FS Arzneimittelindustrie e. V. (FSA)Association of Voluntary Self-Regulation for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Dr. Holger DienerGrolmanstraße 44–45 · 10623 Berlin Phone: +49 (0)30 8 87 28–17 00E-mail: h.diener@fs-arzneimittelindustrie.de

Information portal on the new Code of Conduct:www.pharma-transparency.com

To which pharma companies does the Transparency Code apply?

The Transparency Code will apply to all member compa-nies of the FSA, as well as to their domestic subsidiaries.

Which companies this involves in particular can be re-viewed at www.fs-arzneimittelindustrie.de/mitglieder.

For additional information, please contact us:

Information on the adoption of FSA Transparency Code in collaboration with healthcare professionals

Creating Trust – Combating MistrustOn 27 November 2013, the Association of Voluntary Self-Regulation for the Pharmaceutical Industry (FSA) adopted theFSA Transparency Code. According to the new Transparency Code, all future payments in kind by the pharmaceutical in-dustry to physicians and other healthcare professionals are to be made public. 1

This development is an important step towards more trans-parency and the strengthening of trust of the public at large in the collaboration between pharma companies and health-care professionals. Also at the 116th German Medical Assem-bly at the beginning of June 2013, a current vast majority was in favour of the introduction of transparency in this area.

Therefore we are hoping for your support!

For additional information: www.pharma-transparency.com

1 Approval by the Federal Cartel Office required for the Code to go into effect has been requested and is expected to be granted in the first quarter of 2014.

What is the pharmaceutical industry’s objective with the Transparency Code?

The collaboration of the pharmaceutical industry with healthcare professionals is a decisive factor towards im-proving the care of patients. The pharmaceutical industrydeveloped codes of conduct in parallel to the physician associations’ codes of conduct, which create a transparentand ethically-sound basis for collaboration, in order to guarantee that the patient’s well-being is the sole focus of all cooperation. Voluntary self-regulation has been success-ful up to now. However, societal expectations are continually increasing – in particular, the expectations of the system for transparency are rising.

The pharmaceutical industry is responding to this develop-ment with the Transparency Code, by becoming increasinglymore transparent and endeavouring to make its activities as consistent as possible, in order to thus foster a better un-derstanding of the collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals: After all, those who have nothing to hide, have nothing to fear from transparency.

How does this development affect me as a healthcare professional?

From 2015, the FSA member companies will be documenting all direct and indirect payments and benefits in kind made to healthcare professionals or organisations of the healthcare system from the areas of:

• Research and development• Donations and payments• Sponsoring and other forms of financial support• Invitations to advanced training events, sponsoring• Fees for services and consulting

In the disclosure of individual information, the companies depend upon your consent for data protection reasons. That is why in 2014, the FSA companies will provide precise details to you about the new transparency rule.

When and where is this information expected to be published?

For the first time in 2016 ,the indirect and direct benefits in kind made by FSA member companies to healthcare professionals will be published, based on the year 2015.

It is anticipated that the disclosures will be made available on the websites of member companies.