Codes of Practice

The biopharmaceutical industry is making efforts to improve transparency in our relationships with healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations. The relationship between the biopharmaceutical industry, and healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations, should be based on integrity and transparency. Since July 2016, details of companies’ financial interactions with healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations have been published. The move is consistent with the industry-authored Code of Practice [hyperlink to the Code]. We initiated the disclosure of companies’ financial interactions to hasten the move towards transparency. Healthcare professionals must consent to the disclosure of data. Without that consent, the data is published in aggregate form. We want 100% individual-level disclosure for healthcare professionals. We are encouraging more of our companies to use legitimate interests as the legal basis for the disclosure of transfer of value information. Legitimate interests is a different legal basis for the disclosure of details of all direct and indirect transfers of value, whether in cash, in-kind or otherwise for all healthcare professionals. We believe the move could significantly boost rates of individual-level healthcare professional transfer of value disclosure and reduce the administrative burden for companies and healthcare professionals. Our move to encourage companies to use legitimate interests follows the receipt of an opinion from the Data Protection Commission (DPC). In its response to us on the use of legitimate interests as the legal basis for disclosure, the DPC said “[it] has not identified anything giving rise to significant concern in relation to the processing of personal data”. It advised that our analysis “in relation to the processing of personal data in the context of transparency and transfers of value represents a comprehensive assessment of the lawfulness of processing and the justification for the identification of the legal basis of the legitimate interests of the IPHA”. The DPC said that there should be a procedure to facilitate the exercise of the right to object to data processing. It said “the right to object is not absolute but requires a specific consideration of the grounds justifying the processing in the context of the particular situation of the data subject”. This suggests to us that, if someone objects to data processing, companies cannot simply accept that objection. We have advised our companies that failure to give “specific consideration of the grounds justifying the processing” would contradict the DPC’s opinion, breach the Code of Practice and could breach GDPR legislation. In 2021, the individual-level healthcare professional transfer of value transparency rate was 69%, up one point since 2020. In both 2019 and 2018, the number was 64%. The individual-level healthcare organisation transfer of value transparency rate was 100% in 2021.