Highest ever number of HCPs named on Disclosure UK, says ABPI

An increased number of healthcare professionals (HCPs) who works with pharma companies on non-R&D collaborations have agreed to be named on Disclosure UK in 2020, says the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

In 2020, approximately 68.1% of HCPs agreed for the transfers of values they received from pharma companies for non-R&D collaborations to be made public on Disclosure UK, an increase on the 55.9% reported in 2019 and 57.2% in 2018.

In addition, the information provided details on total spending on non-R&D collaborations. In total, £138.9m was spent on these collaborations in 2020 with HCPs and healthcare organisations (HCOs) – of that amount, 93.4% is disclosed against a named person or HCO.

The data also shows that pharma companies worked with fewer HCPS and HCOs in 2020 compared with 2019, although the ABPI said this was not ‘unexpected’ due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"Partnerships and collaborations are vital in researching and developing the treatments and vaccines that people need.  The pandemic has given the world the strongest possible evidence of that. The work that companies and healthcare professionals carry out is vital to helping discover the treatments of the future,” said Richard Torbett, chief executive of the ABPI.

“We are pleased that the proportion of healthcare professionals named on Disclosure UK is at its highest ever, but despite guidance from the NHS on managing conflicts of interest there is still work to do to encourage more people to do so,” he added.

To coincide with the publication of the Disclosure UK 2020 data, the ABPI has launched a new ‘patient organisation gateway’, which enables visitors to the Disclosure UK database to find and review patient organisation disclosures on individual company websites.