AstraZeneca has impressed oncology patient groups, rising to second place on PatientView’s corporate reputation ranking on the back of strength in breast and lung cancer. Roche, a familiar sight at the top of PatientView’s cancer rankings, claimed first place ahead of AstraZeneca and Novartis.
PatientView polled 505 cancer patient groups from December 2025 to March 2026 to assess perceptions of the biopharma industry and individual companies. Ranking companies they work with, respondents named (PDF) Roche, AstraZeneca and Novartis as the drugmakers with the best reputations. Last year, Servier took (PDF) the top spot ahead of Roche and Pfizer.
AstraZeneca was absent from the top three last year and, unlike Novartis, it failed to make the podium when the patient groups ranked drugmakers they knew but didn’t necessarily work with. The return of AstraZeneca, which came (PDF) second in 2023, to the leaderboard reflects strength in two tumor types.
Patient groups named AstraZeneca as the drugmaker with the best corporate reputation in breast and lung cancer. The tumor types are key therapeutic areas for AstraZeneca. In the first quarter, five of AstraZeneca’s seven best-selling products were cancer drugs (PDF). Four of the oncology medicines—Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza and Enhertu—are approved in forms of breast and lung cancer.
Roche took second place on the breast and lung cancer rankings. Novartis claimed third in breast cancer, while Amgen occupied the final podium position in lung cancer. AstraZeneca came third in blood cancer, where it sells Calquence. Novartis topped the blood cancer table, followed by Johnson & Johnson.
Pharma’s overall reputation among cancer patient groups has slipped in recent years. At 62%, the proportion of groups that said the industry has a “good” or “excellent” reputation was unchanged from last year but down on the 67% recorded two years in a row exiting the pandemic. Cancer drugmakers have a better reputation than the broader industry, which was graded at least good by 57% of groups.
Drugmakers’ ability to innovate and to generate products that benefit cancer patients underpin positive perceptions of oncology companies. But the overall positivity in those areas masks some negative trends, including deteriorating perceptions of blood cancer drug developers’ ability to innovate. Longstanding negative views of cancer companies’ work on drug access and pricing were seen again in the latest poll.