The survey found that while trust in pharmaceutical companies increased moderately due to COVID-19 vaccine development, patients believe pharmaceutical companies should apply the same urgency to developing treatments for other conditions. Patients expect faster drug development and more transparency. To regain trust, pharmaceutical companies need to engage more with patients through clinical trial diversity and transparency as well as education. Patients are also influenced by other industries and expect a more holistic approach to care that addresses individual needs. Despite criticisms, many patients remain hopeful that pharmaceutical companies can earn trust again through mission-driven, patient-centric actions.

1. Accenture Patient Survey Dec 2020
ThePatient
Perspective:
TrustingPharma
Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved.

2. Objective
To understand patients’ views on and trust
in the pharmaceutical industry during the
COVID-19 pandemic
Method
Online consumer survey conducted from
December 18th – 24th, 2020 with U.S.
respondents (n=500) who had been
diagnosed or treated with a medical
condition in the last 3 years
Trust Definition
Respondents were primed with the
definition of trust as: “A firm belief in the
integrity, strength, truthfulness and
competency of someone or something”
Aboutthe
AccenturePharma
TrustSurvey
Audience Profile
23%
21%
17%
16%
13%
13%
11%
8%
7%
2%
Cardiovascular
Respiratory
Bones and Organs
Neurology
Rheum. / Immunology
Infections
Eye Diseases
Metabolic
Oncology
Rare Diseases
Medical Conditions Ethnicity
79%
10%
6%
5%
1%
White / Caucasian
Black / African American
Hispanic / Latino
Asian American
Native American / Indigenous
6%
12%
19%
15%
4%
16%
18%
4%
6%
18 – 23
24 – 30
31 – 39
40 – 50
51 – 54
55 – 65
66 – 73
74 – 75
75+
Age (mean=49.7 yrs)
16%
27%
60%
Yourself
Loved one
Neither
Previously Contracted COVID-19
Gender
51%
49%
Female
Male
2

3. KeyFindings
Despite the rapid
COVID-19 vaccine roll-
out, patients’ trust in
pharma only
increased moderately,
as this is what they
believe is their ‘job’.
Moreover, they now
also expect pharma to
apply the same sense
of urgency to
developing treatments
relevant to their
personal conditions.
To earn greater trust
(other than lowering
prices), there are a
number of ‘trust
levers’ which can be
leveraged via greater
transparency and
access to clinical trials,
more awareness
around patient service
programs, and tailored
communications at
both brand and
corporate levels.
Patients are looking at
industries outside
pharma in terms of
their everyday ‘life
experience’, and
pharma can learn
meaningful lessons in
terms of how they
develop products and
engage consumers.
Despite generally
negative perceptions
and heightened
expectations of the
pharma industry,
patients are still
willing to trust pharma
if/when they act in
alignment with their
mission to holistically
help patients.
1 2 3 4
3

4. Following the COVID-19
vaccine rollout, patients
believe pharma should
have a newfound sense of
urgency for finding new
treatments and/or cures
to the diseases that
impact them currently.
Pharma’s processes—
from discovery &
development through
clinical trials & regulatory
approvals—must be
transformed to increase
speed & efficiency in
order to meet patients’
new expectations.
While Americans are placing a great deal of trust in the health & life sciences industry, they trust pharmaceutical
companies less than any other healthcare player—less than half as much as even the government.
The COVID-19 epidemic hasn’t significantly increased trust in pharma—pharma’s response to COVID-19 is what
people expected from the industry. However, pharma discovering & manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine has
significantly increased expectations that pharma should be able to more efficiently develop and deliver
treatments relevant to patients’ conditions.
31%
16%
10%
6%
6%
6%
6%
6%
5%
3%
3%
2%
Health & Life Sciences
Banking
Utilities
Insurance
Comms, Media & Tech
Consumer Goods & Services
Energy
Travel
Retail
Automotive & Industrial
Chemicals
Capital Markets
58%
15%
12%
10%
5%
Healthcare Provider
Pharmacy
Health Insurance
Government
Pharmaceutical Industry
Trust in Industry* Trust in Healthcare Players*
13%
22%
45%
11% 9%
Significantly
increased
Moderately
increased
No change Moderately
decreased
Significantly
decreased
15%
31%
37%
10% 6%
Increased
significantly
Increased
moderately
No change Decreased
moderately
Decreased
significantly
Impact of COVID-19on Trust in Pharma Impact of COVID-19on Pharma R&D Expectations
4
*rated at the top
*rated at the top
Finding#1:OnlymodesttrustboostdespiteCOVID-19response

5. Change the 'value'
perception of pharma
beyond the primary focus
on price by focusing on
greater transparency in
clinical trials and patient
services programs,
combined with significant
increases in awareness
across & above brand
level.
49% of patients have trust in the pharmaceutical company.
While trust in pharma is higher than recent years, data shows the main perceived barriers to trust are:
Overall Patient Trust in Pharmaceutical Industry
17%
32%
21% 18%
12%
5 - Strongly agree 4 - Somewhat agree 3 - Neither agree nor
disagree
2 - Somewhat disagree 1 - Strongly disagree
“Unfairly” high
drug prices
Lack of
transparency
Lack of
awareness
Lack of patient-
centricity
Lack of patient
perspective
5
Pharma CEO Actions Increasing Trust (% agree)*
83%
82%
78%
75%
74%
73%
71%
71%
69%
64%
63%
Lowered drug prices
Publicly shared clinical research data in clear and transparent manner
Financially supported access to treatment (e.g. transportation, childcare costs)
Provided more educational resources to patients
Supported government policies protecting patients' rights and health
Funded organizations promoting community health and well-being
Conducted research aimed to understand and reduce health disparities
Publicly shared how patients' perspectives were incorporated into product &…
Increased diversity in clinical trials (e.g. race, gender)
Improved my experience with new technology
Increased diversity among its employees and partnering healthcare professionals
*rated at the top
Finding#2:Engagingpatients(beyondthepill)requiredtorebuildtrust

6. Expectations for how
pharma engages with
patients are derived from
the broader environment
in which people live in
and the industries they
interact with.
In relation to this broader
context, the COVID-19
vaccine being branded by
company name for the
first time in industry
history (e.g.
“Pfizer/Moderna”
vaccine) adds a new
dimension in terms of
scrutiny and the potential
to positively impact
patients’ perception &
trust.
Patients believe the main lessons pharma should learn from each industry below are:
Retail
▌ Be customer-centric: provide
products/services that align with customers’
preferences, experiences, and values
▌ Provide fair value: lower prices (as a
competitive market rather than oligopoly)
and increase availability of products
Consumer Goods
▌ Develop relationships with consumers: tell a
relevant & meaningful story to connect with
consumers via marketing, advertising, etc.
Technology
▌ Increase information availability & access:
regularly incorporate customer feedback /
input to continuously improve
▌ Be agile & innovative: increase speed of
product development, improvement,
and evolution
Communications
▌ Tailor communications to each customer:
understand preferred content, tone, timing,
channels, and language
6
Finding#3:Patientexpectationsareshapedoutsideofhealthcare

7. 20%
6%
16%
11% 12%
14%
5% 4% 3%
9%
Would highly
recommend
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Would not
recommend
Despite negative
perceptions and
heightened expectations,
there is a reservoir of
goodwill that still resides
within patients that could
allow the industry to
‘earn’ greater trust from
patients.
Patients are willing to
place great trust in
pharma if they not only
met the medical needs
with new treatments, but
also in changing the way
they engage with patients
more holistically.
There is a sense of hope among patients for re-gaining trust in the pharmaceutical industry: when asked to
describe pharma in one word just over half of patients depicted the industry positively. Furthermore, 65% of
patients would recommend that a loved one work for a pharma company.
Recommending a Loved One to Work for Pharma
One Word to Describe Pharma
7
Finding#4:Regainingtrustispossibleifpharmatakesproperaction

8. ClientImplications
8
1
Patients expect the
speed & urgency of the
COVID-19 vaccine
deployment to be
applied across all life
sciences efforts
Pharma’s drug
development and go-to-
market processes need
to be accelerated with
new digital and analytics
capabilities to meet
elevated expectations
2
Other than lowering drug
prices, there are a
number of ‘value levers’
that the industry can
consider to regain
patients’ trust
Pharma must augment
patient engagement
efforts:
R&D: increase diversity
in trials and clinical trial
transparency
Commercial: increase
awareness in patient
services and educate
patients in a more
personalized manner
3
Non-healthcare
industries are adapting to
the pandemic with
innovative customer
experience strategies
Pharma should transform
its patient engagement
approach to expand
treatment access,
address holistic patient
needs, and drive
awareness through
values-based messaging
4
Despite negative public
perception, a reservoir of
goodwill remains if/when
pharma acts in alignment
with its mission
Pharma should integrate
patient perspectives into
communication strategy
and understand patients’
individual preferences to
tailor their experience

9. TeamMembers
9
Patient Experience Center of Excellence
Whitney Baldwin
Patient Experience COE Lead
Golnar Khalilolahi
Patient Experience COE Team
Allison Hubert
Patient Experience COE Team
Accenture Research
Sanskriti Thakur
Global Life Science Research Lead