New index...

Pharma companies are failing to adequately disclose the impacts of their social contributions according to a new index.

The VV-Good index compares the Top 10 pharmaceutical companies according to their social, environmental and financial performance. For example Germany’s Merck scores 28% for its social impacts – a figure that reflects levels of disclosure as well as actual social performance. Next in line are Novartis (18%), AstraZeneca (15%) and Bayer (13%).

The overall impact score shows the performance of each company across all the indicators between 2010 and 2011 as a percentage. For example, have they screened more suppliers for human rights adherence or have they reduced their carbon dioxide emissions.