Across the Asia-Pacific region, the pharmaceutical industry receives a higher score on its reputation than in the United States or the European Union, according to a new State of the Asia-Pacific Pharmaceutical Industry study from APCO Worldwide, utilizing the firm’s proprietary Return on Reputation Indicator model.

The study is a continuation of a global assessment of the pharmaceutical industry’s reputation, following an earlier study of the industry in the United States and Europe. APCO Insight surveyed more than 1,500 respondents in Australia, China, India, Japan and Korea analyzing the industry’s reputation along 30 key dimensions.

Within the Asia-Pacific region, the industry’s reputation scored highest in China and lowest in Japan. On the whole, product integrity, stakeholder engagement and innovation factors account for the largest proportion of reputation across Asia-Pacific countries. For this study, product integrity is defined by its commitment throughout the product lifecycle, where ingredients are sourced, how the product is manufactured, and ensuring both product and process are available and in accordance with all laws and regulations in each country.

APCO found that a one-point increase in the pharmaceutical industry’s ROR Indicator index score in the region will lead to:
• An approximate 2 percent increase in product sales across the Asia-Pacific Region.
• More than 7 million additional people are likely to support and defend the industry when crises arise.
• An additional 3.2 million more patients asking their doctors about a company’s medicine.
• An additional 5.5 million patients recommending a company’s medicine.

"APCO's definition of reputation is driven by stakeholder expectations and the results clearly pinpoint how pharmaceutical companies operating in the Asia-Pacific region can measurably impact their business environment," says Bryan Dumont, president of APCO Insight. "These findings provide a clear roadmap for how companies in the industry can effectively enhance their most valuable asset—their reputation. With our proprietary, quantitative model, company executives can know exactly where to lead their company's external efforts.”

Those surveyed included health care opinion leaders, health care providers, policy makers and payers. The model measures the effect of overall reputation on a number of specific business outcomes, including consumer behavior, prescribing behavior, litigation attitudes and financial value.