Business Health

GSK among top five brands in UK

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been ranked fifth among the top 500 brands in the United Kingdom by the Superbrands Organisation, following the completion of the organisation’s annual survey.

Based on the views of 1,500 professionals and a council of senior business leaders in the UK, the ranking recognises brands that have established the finest reputations in their fields and make the most impact on the UK business sector.

Other brands in the UK top 5 with GSK are Google, Microsoft, BP and BBC. In September 2007, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals in Sri Lanka was rated the country’s first ‘Pharmaceutical Business Superbrand’, by the Superbrands Organisation, following an evaluation by a Business Superbrand Council comprising 22 eminent individuals.

Commenting on the latest Superbrand ranking in the UK, GSK Pharmaceuticals’ Managing Director in Sri Lanka Stuart Chapman said: “The fact that GSK is the only pharmaceuticals brand in the Superbrands top five reiterates the company’s position as a benchmark in its sector. A Superbrand rating identifies brands with significant strategic focus and commitment to achieve extraordinary results.”

GSK is also the only pharmaceutical company to tackle the three “priority” diseases identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO): HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Chapman said GlaxoSmithKline has been doing business in Sri Lanka for over 50 years and set up one of Sri Lanka’s first pharmaceuticals manufacturing plants in the late 1950s.

Not enough pharmacists in the pharmaceutical trade

Hathoon Sheriffdeen

We do not have enough pharmacists in the pharmaceutical trade. The government and the private members in the industry should consider on the development of the industry by encouraging the younger generation to professionalise in the pharmaceutical profession, CEO, Harcourt’s Group of Companies, Ahamed Rheyas said on an interview.

Pharmacists are very scarce in the labour market. We have only a few private tutories to study pharmacist courses in Sri Lanka. Many students sit for the medical council examination to qualify as pharmacists by reading the tutorials.

This practice gives them only the theoretical knowledge, they possess no pre-employment practical knowledge at the time they qualify to enter the labour market in Sri Lanka.

This reduces the quality and professionalism of the profession in the industry, he said.

The industry is very sophisticated, since the supply of the drugs in the market is more than the demand. Also, the industry is very competitive. Vendors of the pharmaceutical industry are qualified and aware of the medical market, Rheyas said.

He said the growth of the industry is mostly directed by nutriceuticles now. Consumption of nutriceuticles has increased and doctors also tend to prescribe neutriceuticles a lot. Locals tend to consume these vitamins and preventive medicines a lot.

“The imports of herbal medicine have to face a CESS of 25 per cent. This impacts the herbal medicine imports highly. Nutriceuticles too, face various kinds of taxes, which should be moderated by considering the nutrition value of the people in the country” Rheyas said.