GSK
What does GSK do?
"We have a challenging and inspiring mission to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer." - GSK Mission statement
Whenever GSK is mentioned, I immediately think of its pharmaceutical products. A global healthcare company, GSK is responsible for many of the medicines we use today. GSK's prescription medicines treat a wide range of conditions such as infections, depression, skin conditions, asthma, heart and circulatory disease.
GSK has also produced more than 30 vaccines that help to prevent many life-threatening infections such as Hepatitis A and B. Many of its consumer healthcare brands, such as Sensodyne and Panadol are famous around the world and are a part of many peoples' everyday lives, and GSK also produces Ribena and Horlicks.
As a pharmaceutical company, GSK's research and development involves biological research to develop a new drug that can treat diseases, investigating the human being's physiology, genetic makeup, immunological makeup as well as microbiology.
What wows/"unwows" me
What I learnt from my research, however, is that GSK is also actively involved in helping communities, and GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty was recently named Individual Leader of the Year at the Ethical Corporation Responsible Business Summit 2010. In developing countries, GSK sells its medicines for 25% of the price in developed countries and reinvests 20% of its profits in the countries to improve healthcare infrastructure.
It also participates in numerous global health programs as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, including the donation of over 2 billion treatments to stop the spread of lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne tropical disease, as well as its research and development in new anti-malarial drugs and an anti-malaria vaccine, RTS.S.
(Refer to GSKvision's Youtube Channel for more corporate videos by the company)
"We have a challenging and inspiring mission to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer." - GSK Mission statement
Whenever GSK is mentioned, I immediately think of its pharmaceutical products. A global healthcare company, GSK is responsible for many of the medicines we use today. GSK's prescription medicines treat a wide range of conditions such as infections, depression, skin conditions, asthma, heart and circulatory disease.
GSK has also produced more than 30 vaccines that help to prevent many life-threatening infections such as Hepatitis A and B. Many of its consumer healthcare brands, such as Sensodyne and Panadol are famous around the world and are a part of many peoples' everyday lives, and GSK also produces Ribena and Horlicks.
As a pharmaceutical company, GSK's research and development involves biological research to develop a new drug that can treat diseases, investigating the human being's physiology, genetic makeup, immunological makeup as well as microbiology.
What wows/"unwows" me
What I learnt from my research, however, is that GSK is also actively involved in helping communities, and GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty was recently named Individual Leader of the Year at the Ethical Corporation Responsible Business Summit 2010. In developing countries, GSK sells its medicines for 25% of the price in developed countries and reinvests 20% of its profits in the countries to improve healthcare infrastructure.
It also participates in numerous global health programs as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, including the donation of over 2 billion treatments to stop the spread of lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne tropical disease, as well as its research and development in new anti-malarial drugs and an anti-malaria vaccine, RTS.S.
(Refer to GSKvision's Youtube Channel for more corporate videos by the company)
GSK, like almost all large Multi-National Corporations, has had its fair share of scandals relating to issues of drug testing, overcharging for drugs etc (Refer to this link for more details). However, the work that the company has done in developing countries is impressive, illustrating how GSK recognises the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in its future development.
Refer to:
http://www.gsk.com
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_05/b4019007.htmhttp://social.eyeforpharma.com/marketing/gsks-approach-corporate-social-responsibilityhttp://blogs.ft.com/businessblog/2011/06/gsks-shrewd-sense-of-social-responsibility/#axzz1cYFP6Slb
Refer to:
http://www.gsk.com
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_05/b4019007.htmhttp://social.eyeforpharma.com/marketing/gsks-approach-corporate-social-responsibilityhttp://blogs.ft.com/businessblog/2011/06/gsks-shrewd-sense-of-social-responsibility/#axzz1cYFP6Slb
Reflections
In this learning journey, it would be great if I could have a overview of the work GSK is doing in Singapore, as well as to discover how the company identifies areas of concern and goes about discovering and producing drugs to treat certain conditions and diseases. I would also like to know how GSK goes about its production and how it ensures it is a responsible company to the society and the environment, one that is not solely profit-driven but also motivated to produce items to benefit other people.
After learning more about GSK, which I have collaborated with before as part of my Sec 3 biology project previously, some possible project ideas could investigate the use of certain compounds derived from various plants on killing bacteria/fungi/ wound healing/killing cancer cell lines.
After learning more about GSK, which I have collaborated with before as part of my Sec 3 biology project previously, some possible project ideas could investigate the use of certain compounds derived from various plants on killing bacteria/fungi/ wound healing/killing cancer cell lines.