Detailed Information :

Year of Establishment: 1981; revised 2007

Participants: Research-based pharma-ceutical, biotech and vaccine companies.

Scope:

• The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations is a non-profit, non-governmental Organization (NGO) representing national industry associations and companies from both developed and developing countries.

Key Facts:
Description

• The Federation promotes and supports principles of ethical conduct and practices voluntarily agreed upon as exemplified by the IFPMA Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices.
• Key elements of the Code include more restrictive provisions on travel, gifts and scientific events, plus the establishment of a Code Complaint Procedure and a Code Compliance Network, bringing together code experts from all over the world.

Objectives

• The IFPMA Code sets out standards for the ethical promotion of pharmaceutical products to healthcare professionals to ensure that member companies’ interactions with healthcare professionals are appropriate and perceived as such.

Key Learning:

• An anti-corruption declaration can also be created and published in a sector-wide effort.
• IFPMA shows that it is possible to bring together companies from developed and developing countries to agree on shared principles.

Mechanisms:

• General Principles

1. Basis of Interaction - Member companies’ relationships with healthcare professionals should be focused on informing healthcare professionals about products and providing scientific and educational information
2. Independence of Healthcare Professionals - No financial benefit or benefit-in-kind (including grants, scholarships, subsidies etc.) may be provided or offered to a healthcare professional in exchange for prescribing, recommending, purchasing, supplying or administering a company’s products.
3. Transparency of Promotion - This deals with clinical assessments, post marketing surveillance and experimental programs, and post authorization studies must not be disguised as promotion.
1. Standards of Promotional Information
1. Consistency of Product information - Promotion should be consistent with locally approved product information.
2. Accurate and Not Misleading - Promotional information should be clear, fair, objective and sufficiently complete to enable the recipient to form his or her own opinion of the therapeutic value of the pharmaceutical product concerned.
2. Printed Promotional Material which deals with guidelines on All Printed Promotional Material, including Advertisements
3. Interactions with Healthcare Professionals
1. Events - this contains guidelines pertaining to the scientific objectives of an event, events that involve foreign travel and promotional material.
2. Sponsorship - This contains guidelines on the permitted payments for sponsorships. For e.g. sponsorships to healthcare professionals are to be limited to the payment of travel, meals, accommodation and registration fees; No payments are to be made to compensate healthcare professionals for time spent in attending the Event.
3. Guidelines for payments for Speakers and Presenters and Guests expenses
4. Gifts - such as avoidance of cash payments or personal gifts to healthcare professionals.
5. Guidelines on culture courtesy gifts.
4. Company Procedures and Responsibilities - IFPMA member companies must comply directly with applicable national codes of member associations where such codes exist. In all other territories, i.e. where there are no local codes or appropriate laws and regulations, or where a member company is not a member of local/regional association, the IFPMA Code acts as a default code for the activities of member companies and the IFPMA operating procedures apply.

Other points:

• Accountability - IFPMA member companies are accountable for addressing and correcting infringements under relevant codes. They should also ensure that internal structures and procedures (including adequate training of employees) are created to ensure responsible and ethical promotional activities.
• Complaints - The IFPMA is open to receive genuine complaints from any source on any aspect of the IFPMA Code, in accordance with its operating procedures.

Benefits:

• For Pharma Industry: Enhanced credibility of the industry through enforcement of a standard code of procedures and guidelines on marketing practices. Assistance in a ’level playing field’ through honest competition in business practices
• For Consumers/ Patients: High standard of integrity by the member companies, fair pricing and correct objective information about products
• For Governments: High-level of public trust was guaranteed, as well as fair and objective policies in the healthcare industry

Links:

Click here for more information

IFPMA Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices

Source: IFPMA website