The UK might soon follow US pharma companies by publicly declaring payments made to key opinion leaders.
David Gillen, Pfizer UK's medical director, has said industry leaders in the UK and Europe now at least have to consider making public the payments in order to disprove impropriety or undue influence.
Speaking in an exclusive Pharmafocus interview, Gillen admits the UK pharma industry has made errors around transparency over the years, and that it must find a way to restore its image. He hints that this is incompatible with the current model of funding for medical education.
"It seems to me that we put money in [to medical education] and we get criticised for it. So something there has got to change," said Gillen.
The US operations of Pfizer and rivals GSK, Lilly and Merck have announced plans to declare such payments, ahead of new legislation that will oblige companies to do so, and it seems companies in the UK and Europe may follow suit.
Pressure for change has grown considerably in recent years. Suspicions that pharma-doctor relationships are tainted by large payments have damaged pharma's reputation, despite protestations that the relations are ethical.
Gillen is a member of a working party made up of Royal College of Physicians members and representatives from UK pharma.
Here's PharmaGossip's submission to the working party.
The group has met regularly over the past 12 months to examine the challenges involved in creating the ideal relationship between doctors and industry.
A report written by Lancet editor and the working party's chairman Richard Horton due in February will reveal their conclusions.
"It's about trying to reconstruct this relationship, which has got to a place where it shouldn't be," said Gillen.
He believes the findings of the project will have an impact on a global level. "If you look at where this reputational change can start, it can start here, and we can maybe change the industry's reputation around the world."
Gillen also believes the industry needs to improve transparency around clinical studies.
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