Pharmaceutical Firms Tighten Self-Regulation Of Meetings Programs

Although the regulations set forth in the United States by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America are voluntary, many pharmaceutical companies recently have set up stricter enforcement, while buyers are finding ways to manage differences in country-specific regulations for international meetings.

The regulations, introduced by PhRMA in 2002, pertain to potential conflicts of interest between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals. They cover guidelines for venues, food and beverage, entertainment and gifts.

"Companies are beginning to change their language from guidelines to requirements," said Maureen Concklin, president of CMM Global, a meeting planning firm for drug development companies. "At some companies who were in the forefront, it's been a requirement for two years, and some companies are just now making it a requirement. I've seen it in more companies within the last six months."

"The spotlight is on pharma so much that everybody is observing the rules. A pharma company is always policing itself to be ethical," said Judy Benaroche Johnson, president and CEO of Rx Worldwide Meetings, a pharmaceutical meeting planning firm.

Self-governance is a way to prevent mandatory regulations from the government, said George Odom, senior director of business development for Advito, BCD Travel's consulting unit.

"Pharma manufacturers are trying to make this pharma code stick so it won't be law. If they can police themselves, it won't have to be a government regulation, so they're very serious about it," he said.

Pharmaceutical regulations outside of the United States vary by country, and in Europe the regulations are especially strong, Odom said. Some meetings departments work with corporate procurement or legal and regulatory departments to ensure such regulations are followed.

Meeting buyers at Abbott International use a database with each country's regulations that was developed by the company's office of ethics and compliance. Buyers can input the parameters of the meeting and the database will return a list of the appropriate regulations for the applicable countries. The OEC also helps interpret different countries' regulations.

"If we run into a location where we can't find a hotel under a certain amount of euro, that's when we pull in the OEC and they begin to work through the rules and the guidelines," said Carrie Leinonen, senior manager of event marketing for Abbott International.

Rick Wakida, corporate travel manager for Gilead Sciences, is pitching a proposal for his company's meetings in the United Kingdom that includes dedicated counselors who are conversant in the regulations of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry to make sure what is being sourced is compliant, he said. Eventually, the program would be used throughout Europe. In the United States, "our policy actually lists examples of the types of hotels travelers are expected to utilize," he said. The intent of the language was to exclude luxury hotels from consideration.

A company's decision to mandate guidelines can vary by country, Advito's Odom said. "Some companies have experts within a country and the meeting planner would contact their counterpart there," he said. In addition, when attendees come from several different countries, all regulations must be reviewed so that the strictest regulations can be adhered to, he said.