RANKED: These are the most and least reputable drug companies in the world

REUTERS/Karoly Arvai

Drug companies aren't exactly known for their reputations.

But public opinions about them have changed in some surprising ways in recent years, especially amidst recent controversies over the high and rising prices of drugs.

A new analysis from the research consulting firm Reputation Institute evaluated public perceptions of 14 pharmaceutical companies in 7 key areas: 1) products and services, 2) innovation, 3) workplace, 4) governance, 5) citizenship, 6) leadership, and 7) financial performance.

The report found that on average, drug companies continue to be perceived as having a so-so reputation. In fact, people's opinion of the pharmaceutical industry overall has improved since 2015.

Yet Kasper Ulf Nielsen, an executive partner at the Reputation Institute, told Business Insider that these average ratings hide some of the more interesting aspects of the results. For one thing, people tend to have polar opposite views of individual companies, either ranking them as having an "excellent" or "poor" reputation. The company with the highest reputation was Bayer. Also, young people aged 18-24 had a significantly lower impression of pharmaceutical companies than did older people.

Check out the Reputation Institute's drug company scores, ranked from lowest to highest: