It has been no secret that consumer trust in the pharmaceutical industry has taken a knock recently. The industry has been faced with bad press from the US ‘Avandia’ Scandal to the WHO’s (World Health Organisation) reaction to the Swine Flu Pandemic. Big Pharma understands that responsibility to the consumer lies with them and in an active effort to remedy the flagging consumer trust they have agreed to come together at this year’s illustrious NGP Summit in Portugal ran by GDS International.
“An effective compliance program embedded in the ‘right’ compliance culture has become the best practice standard within global jurisdiction.” Says NGP 20 Chair Willy Van Buggenhout VP WW Healthcare Compliance at Johnson & Johnson
Big Pharma companies adhere to strict compliance programmes which act as a commitment to the consumer and meet with the laws and regulations set by government bodies, but discrepancy between each companies ‘code of conduct’ has lead to confusion both within the industry and for the customer. Representatives from Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi Pasteur and Astra Zeneca are meeting at the NGP EU summit to discuss how they plan to rebuild consumer trust and create a ‘Standard code of practice’ accessible and understood by all.
“The effectiveness of a compliance programme is to a large extent determined by the degree with which values are shared and embraced by all levels in an organization.”
Although the outlook looks good for the pharmaceutical industry meetings such as the NGP EU summit promote camaraderie in an otherwise highly competitive Market. The goal is to promote growth while maintaining business to consumer trust. 20 handpicked executives will gather before the summit in a Closed-door meeting to develop a vision on the key steps needed to capture new markets and revenues under the new compliance guidelines.
