Guidance has been published to support charities and pharmaceutical companies in working together to improve the lives of patients.
National Voices and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) have jointly produced a guide on collaboration for both charities and pharmaceutical companies. The guide highlights the benefits that working together can deliver, alongside some of the issues and risks that all parties need to consider.
The interests of charities and pharmaceutical companies are distinct, but often overlap. Many charities and pharmaceutical companies collaborate to achieve common objectives such as improving patient information or access to medicines.
The aim of the guide is to ensure that such collaborations are more likely to happen, for the benefit of charities, pharmaceutical companies and patients.
It outlines four key principles for collaboration between charities and pharmaceutical companies; clarity of purpose, ensuring that the purpose of the collaboration is clear; integrity, each party should maintain honesty and integrity throughout; independence; and transparency.
Harry Cayton CBE, Chief Executive of the Professional Standards Authority and Chair of the Steering Committee which oversaw development of the guide, commented
"This guide is a useful resource for both the pharmaceutical sector and the charity sector. The benefits that can be realised when working together are clear, but both parties need to feel confident that they are going about it in the right way. Hopefully this guide will help encourage companies and charities to have greater confidence in collaborating and improving outcomes for patients."
The guide can be viewed here.