New guidance to help NHS and UK industry benefit patient
This article was originally published in Scrip
New guidance on joint working from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) should clarify what its code of practice allows in terms of joint working with the National Health Service (NHS). It stipulates that any agreements must focus on delivering patient benefit.
Joint working proposals must define these patient benefits, but also the benefits for companies and the NHS, says the guidance. Those for the pharma industry might include increased use of medicines, better understanding of patient needs, an improved reputation and faster NHS implementation of policies.
The guidance concedes that the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry are entitled to consider returns on investment (ROI) before agreeing to any project. However, the "commercial benefit to either party must not be the sole benefit under joint working", it says. Meanwhile arrangements that explicitly refer to a company's product must be set within the context of patient care and the medicine must be used appropriately and in line with national guidance. Furthermore, there must be no incentive to prescribe the products.
Projects designed to generally increase the appropriate use of medicines in a particular therapeutic area are acceptable. Nevertheless, those which increase the use of a particular medicine (not a class of medicines) are likely to undergo greater scrutiny.
Additionally, the guidelines also say that companies need to be transparent about why they are taking part in a joint working project, including any commercial return on investment. With this in mind companies should set out ROI calculations within the context of patient care.
Joint working agreements should be set out in a formal, written document and include certain information, for example on the expected benefits for patients; the NHS and the pharma company involved; an outline of the financial arrangements; and the planned publications of outcomes or data.
Also included in the document is guidance on the size and duration of agreements; exiting agreements; communicating within companies; and complying with competition law.
The ABPI developed its guidance alongside the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the department of health and NHS representative bodies.