A Breath of Fresh Air: Creating Shared Value in the Philippines

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a multinational pharmaceutical company, has, for many years, produced a medicine for acute management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is predominantly marketed in a multidose inhaler canister that is generally unaffordable for most people living in poor countries. With the goal of concurrently generating economic returns and delivering positive social outcomes, GSK recently re-launched an affordable single-unit dose presentation of this medicine for asthma and COPD sufferer in low socioeconomic communities. The product takes the form of a salbutamol capsule dispensed through a low-cost inhaler device (the product is henceforth referred to as a “single-dose inhaler”). In developing this product, the company has sought to generate social outcomes (in terms of improved healthcare outcomes for poor people) while making profit on the sales of the product.