Why do pharmaceutical companies sponsor education?
Pharmaceutical companies support the enhancement of medical knowledge and the quality use of medicines through sponsoring independently organised educational activities. These educational activities are primarily offered by learned societies, colleges, universities and other recognised healthcare professional organisations.
How are these events conducted?
These events are organised independently of the sponsoring pharmaceutical company. Sponsorship is provided by companies to support running the event. In many cases, a single sponsorship amount is provided to the organisers. Pharmaceutical companies must be fully aware of the activities that their sponsorship will support and must be satisfied that they meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct.
The third party organising the meeting should independently determine the educational content, select the speakers and invite the attendees. Pharmaceutical companies should, however, ensure that the educational content of the event is consistent with their responsibilities under the Code of Conduct. The sponsoring company may also propose a speaker or speakers for a meeting they are sponsoring, but the final choice remains the responsibility of the third party organising the event.
Grants & Donations
On 30 March 2025, Code Edition 20 introduced the transparent reporting of grants & donations to healthcare organisations. Both healthcare organisations and grants and donations are defined in the Code’s glossary. Grants and donations collectively, mean providing funds, assets or services freely given for the purpose of supporting healthcare, scientific research or education, with no consequent obligation on the recipient to provide goods or services to the benefit of the donor in return.
Companies may provide grants or donations to healthcare organisations, provided they meet at least one of the following criteria:
- to improve patient outcomes.
- to implement a quality use of medicine program; or
- for education, training or academic purposes; or
- for medical research.
Third Party Meeting and Symposia Sponsorships Summary
Below is a summary of the reports for the period 1 November 2024 – 30 April 2025.
| Number of Companies transparently reporting | 33 |
| Aggregate number of events sponsored *Some events may be sponsored by a number of companies and therefore one event may be reported more than once |
1,294 |
| Aggregate hours of education supported by sponsorships *Represents total number of educational hours sponsored. As some events may be sponsored by a number of companies, an ‘educational hour’ may be reported more than once |
9,786 |
| Aggregate number of healthcare professionals in attendance *Represents total number of healthcare professionals attending the sponsored educational events. Some events may be sponsored by a number of companies and therefore a healthcare professional may be reported more than once |
476,981 |
| Total amount of sponsorship provided | $13,941,634 |
Grants & Donations Summary
Below is a summary of the reports for the period 30 March 2025 – 30 April 2025.*
*These dates reflect the implementation of Code Edition 20, which introduced Grants & Donations reporting on 30 March 2025.
| Number of Companies transparently reporting | 33 |
| Aggregate number of grants & donations provided | 11 |
| Total amount of grants & donations provided | $275,779 |
Member Company Reports are available here