GSK discloses 2013 payments to Australian healthcare professionals

As part of our ongoing commitment to increase transparency, we are disclosing today, the aggregate amount of fees paid to Australian healthcare professionals (HCPs) and health-related organisations (HCOs) for all sponsorships, grants, speaking engagements and consulting services during the calendar year of 2013.

The total amount for this period was $2,430,545 and covers all parts of the GSK business in Australia, including Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Healthcare. This aggregate number is broken into the following categories (Please note some minor changes to category definitions from 2012).

• $793,468 for consultancy fees related to healthcare professionals providing services such as advisory boards, speaking and writing engagements.
• $1,088,541 to individual healthcare professionals to attend international congresses and local meetings (includes registration fees, accommodation and travel). This category also now includes sponsorships to HCOs where GSK receives a benefit in return such as a stand at a conference or a speaking slot at a symposium.
• $548,536 in grants or donations to HCOs (non-individual). This category includes activities where GSK is not involved and does not receive a service or direct benefit.

In comparison to last year, the support to healthcare professionals and organisations has remained steady with a small decrease in payments overall.

Geoff McDonald General Manager Pharmaceuticals GSK Australia said, “We remain strong supporters of transparency in our industry and we will continue to release our data on an annual basis. However our focus now is to phase out payments to healthcare professionals for speaking engagements and attendance at medical conferences by the start of 2016”.

Late last year GSK announced that it would be phasing out payments to healthcare professionals for speaking engagements or attendance at conferences by the start of 2016 and removing sales force compensation related to individual sales targets.

“Medical education remains a focus area for GSK to ensure medicines and vaccines are used appropriately. We will look at how we support this over the coming months through unsolicited, independent educational grant routes,” Geoff said.

GSK will continue to provide appropriate fees for services to healthcare professionals for GSK sponsored clinical research, advisory activities and market research. These activities are essential in providing GSK with insights on specific diseases; identification of symptoms and diagnosis; application of clinical trial data or medication dosage and administration; and how to effectively and appropriately communicate the benefits and risks of its medicines to help meet patient needs.

GSK also recently disclosed grants and donations made to community and patient groups during 2013. This information can be found on the GSK website. GSK has been disclosing individual payments to patient and community groups for the last six years.

GSK is the first pharmaceutical company in Australia to make public the aggregate amount spent on grants, donations and sponsorships with healthcare professionals and related organisations.

This information will be posted to www.gsk.com.au as part of GSK’s commitment to disclose the aggregate figure annually each year.

GlaxoSmithKline is a global research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company with a mission to improve the quality of human life. In Australia we have delivered the highest quality medicines, vaccines and over-the-counter healthcare products since 1886. We contribute to Australia’s economy through new approaches to agriculture and manufacturing, and by investing in local research and development. For more information visit www.gsk.com.au

HCP Definition: For the purposes of this initiative, Healthcare Practitioners are defined as: “Members of the medical, dental, pharmacy and nursing professions and any other persons, who may, as a result of their professional qualifications, be able to prescribe, recommend, purchase, supply or administer medicines.”