Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16106

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: report

Gray S
Tightening Regulations and Raising Standards in UK Marketing Communications
: KeywordPharma 2008 Jun
http://www.keywordpharma.com/abpi2008/

Abstract:

Executive summary

In the 50th year of the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Code of Practice, a new edition becomes effective on 1 July 2008. Whilst the revisions it contains are largely the direct requirements of the 2007 European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Code, the UK still manages to introduce some unique considerations.

Changes to the code reflect an overall objective to increase transparency in the interactions between pharma and its stakeholders. Significantly, there is a clear shift of emphasis towards regulating industry communications with a broader range of stakeholders – the code no longer simply governs promotion to healthcare professionals (HCPs), but also looks at interactions with them.

The 2008 revisions are designed to tighten controls and, in the process, further improve the standards of pharmaceutical marketing communications in the UK. Areas such as donations to institutions and how the industry, in particular its representatives, engages the services of HCPs have been scrutinised, and this has led to new clauses and additional controls.

The new code will bring new challenges in implementation for pharma companies throughout the UK. This Expert Review, Tightening Regulations and Raising Standards in UK Marketing Communications, provides a clause-by-clause summary of the major revisions to the ABPI Code of Practice, and how these may impact industry interactions with its stakeholders. It also reviews aspects of the code that may be open to interpretation, and offers advice where scope for flexibility still remains.

This review also includes a brief summary of revisions to the constitution of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), which administers the code on behalf of the ABPI, and it’s procedures for managing complaints when breaches of the code have been alleged.