Disclosure of transfer of value to healthcare professionals and organizations

Pharmaceutical Industry – Healthcare Professionals: A Highly Regulated Relationship

When collaborating with medical experts, we comply with existing laws and regulations that clearly outline the interaction between industry and healthcare professionals, e.g. healthcare laws and industry codes. Additionally, these rules are amended by different transparency regulations, such as the local transparency and disclosure SFDA regulations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We at Bayer fully respect the independence and integrity of the professionals we collaborate with.

How We Collaborate with Healthcare Professionals and Healthcare Organizations

We engage in a variety of professional interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and healthcare organisations (HCOs). This plays a crucial role in optimizing our efforts to improve patient care, treatment options and patient outcomes.
As research-based pharmaceutical company, we engage in clinical collaboration with the HCPs and HCOs in the context of clinical studies. We strongly believe that the joint use of this expertise will help us to gain a better understanding of major diseases and to develop better medicines faster. The treating physician and other healthcare professionals conduct clinical trials at study centres in accordance with the clinical study protocol as approved by health authorities, institutional review boards, and ethics committees. Expertise and time offered by healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations during a clinical trial need to be compensated.
We further supporting HCPs education through various activities, all intended to enhance the knowledge of the HCPs and practice of medicine and therefore benefit the patient. The patients need the best-informed doctors and that can only be achieved by continuous education of the treating physicians. These activities include but are not limited to: (i) promotion and communication directed towards the HCPs and conducted in order to better explain existing and novel medication to HCPs, (ii) support the HCPs education by sponsoring their attendance to scientific events and trainings (which could include payment of registration fees, meals, travel and accommodation for the duration of the event), (iii) support educating new generations of HCPs by sponsoring attendance to preceptorship programs (which could include payment of preceptorship costs for the attendees, such as registration, travel, meals), (iv) contracting HCPs to deliver lectures within scientific events or otherwise attend advisory boards meetings aimed to provide scientific and educational information to a  wider audience of HCPs. All such activities contribute to ensuring doctors have access to the latest medical research and are thus able to prescribe the best treatment option for their patients. Only then can we fulfil our commitment to support the correct use of our new treatments. 

Transparency and Data Disclosure 

In accordance with the SFDA Transparency and Disclosure Procedures, Bayer discloses to SFDA transfers of value to HCPs and HCOs.

Bayer Saudi Arabia has been a key contributor in the transparency process by disclosing the relevant transfer of values as per the SFDA requirements since 2018, the date of its implementation. Bayer takes full responsibility in documenting, completing, and submitting the data in an electronic format within the approved SFDA timeline. The following transfers of value are currently being reported: 

• Consulting fees
• Speaking fees
• Training fees
• Sponsorship of Health Care Professionals to attend educational events
• Research or grants
• Symposium or conference sponsorships 
• Hospitality
• Gifts or entertainment 
• Supplying scientifical materials 

Bayer acknowledges the benefits of greater transparency between HCPs, HCOs and medical companies which helps achieve clarity on existing relationships and interactions in the pharmaceutical industry, ensures transparency of source of funds for relevant pharmaceutical related projects and activities and minimizes the perception of conflict of interests.