GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that starting in 2010, they will be disclosing payments to researchers, in addition to payments for grants, consulting, and promotional talks.
They will also be disclosing payments to physicians outside the U.S., including Europe.
We are also committing to disclose research payments made to healthcare professionals and institutions. This will start with payments to U.S.
healthcare professionals and institutions for conduct of clinical trials starting in 2010.
Thereafter, it will be extended to payments for other types of research and to healthcare professionals and institutions outside the U.S.
GSK has also included a full list of additional policies in relation to transparency:
Reporting payments to U.S. healthcare professionals for conducting research
Payments made to U.S. healthcare professionals and/or their institutions for conducting clinical trials starting from 2010 will be reported.
Announced 24 Mar 2009 and effective Jan 2010
Working with healthcare professionals (from 2008 CR Report)
Publishing 2008 grants made to patient groups in
Europe and international markets
Being transparent about our support for patient groups helps build trust with our stakeholders, including the groups themselves.
Announced 20 Feb 2009 and effective 2007 for Europe and 2008 for international markets
Details of support for patient groups in Europe and APJEM
Posting observational studies, meta-analyses, and studies of terminated compounds on the GSK Register
This will supplement the existing information on the GSK Clinical Study Register on which we post all our Phase l-lV clinical trials of marketed medicines.
Announced 24 Mar 2009 and effective Jan 2009
Committing to publish all clinical research results in the scientific literature
We will publish all of our clinical research of GSK medicines, either as manuscripts in peer reviewed journals, or when studies are not published, provide context and interpretation via the GSK Clinical Study Register to supplement the result summary which is posted.
Announced 24 Mar 2009 and effective Jan 2009
Reporting clinical trial investigator names and institutions
The names of the investigators participating in GSK-sponsored clinical trials, together with the institutions they are working in, are now included on registers of clinical trial protocols for studies starting from January 2009 onward.
Announced 24 Mar 2009 and effective 1 Jan 2009
Publishing product donations valued as average cost of goods
Our new approach to valuing donations as average cost of goods rather than the wholesale acquisition cost is a more accurate reflection of the true cost to GSK. We believe we are the first pharmaceutical company to adopt this practice.
Announced 24 Mar 2009 and effective Dec 2008
More information on community investment (from 2008 CR Report)
GSK is the first group to announce research payments as part of their transparency effort and the first to report on a global basis. European regulators are very interested in gaining knowledge of the payments between pharmaceutical companies and physicians.
In the US the Physician Payment Sunshine Act is gaining momentum so we can expect more of these announcements in the coming days.
GSK: Commitment to Transparency
The Wall Street Journal Blog: GSK to Expand List of Public Payments to Doctors
The Wall Street Journal: GSK Offers Patents to Aid Research
Policy and Medicine: Physician Payment Sunshine Act 2009