What the EFPIA Disclosure Code is about

40 Leading European Companies in 33 Countries are Committed to the EFPIA Disclosure Code

The EFPIA Disclosure Code (full title: EFPIA Disclosure Code of Transfers of Value from Pharmaceutical Companies to Healthcare Professionals and Healthcare Organisations) is a voluntary commitment that requires all EFPIA member companies to disclose transfers of value (“TOVs”) to healthcare professionals (“HCPs”) and healthcare organisations (“HCOs”). Under this code, all EFPIA member companies, including Bayer, will publish all direct and indirect, monetary and non-monetary transfers of value related to the development and commercialisation of prescription-only human pharmaceuticals.

The first disclosures related to payments made in 2015 were made by June 2016. The reporting period is a full calendar year. Disclosure of transfer of value made in the previous calendar year will be published at the latest by the end of June of the current year, with the process repeated every year. For example, disclosures related to payments made in 2022 will be published in June 2023.

Level of Compensation

Healthcare professionals are compensated for their expertise and the services they provide to the pharmaceutical industry. The level of payments and transfers of value depend on the kind of activity, level of expertise, and amount of time. The permissible amounts depend on various factors, e.g. local income level, governing laws and existing codes. The core principle is fair market value remuneration for services received to ensure that honoraria are not misused to unduly influence healthcare professionals in their treatment decisions.

Transfers of value

Transfers of value in the area of ‘Research and Development’ will always be reported on an aggregated level as regulated by the EFPIA Disclosure Code. Transfers of value to healthcare organisations will be reported on a named healthcare organisation basis. Transfers of value to healthcare professionals will be reported as described below.

Legitimate Interest

Effective from 1 January 2023 Bayer will switch from relying on written consent from HCPs, to legitimate interests as the legal basis of processing and disclosing transfers of value data under the applicable data protection legislation (the EU General Data Protection Regulation including as incorporated into local law in the UK.).

We are proud of the support we provide to the healthcare industry for ongoing medical education and other permitted activities to improve patient care, and as such, we believe using legitimate interest as our legal basis for disclosure reporting allows us to be fully transparent to the industry, to patients and to society when reporting TOVs.

Legitimate interest balances the interest of the company, principally to enhance transparency and trust within the industry, with the individual’s interests, rights or freedoms. Under legitimate interest, the default is that transfers of value will automatically be disclosed on an individual, named basis rather than in anonymously in aggregate.

Legitimate Interest: What happens if an HCP decides they do not want their data disclosed?

Once Bayer is relying on legitimate interest (from 1 January 2023), HCPs no longer have the option to opt-out and automatically have data reported in aggregate (anonymously). Instead, HCPs have the right to object to their data being processed but this is not an absolute right to prevent the activity. There must be a compelling reason that overrides Bayer’s legitimate interests (transparency and trust in the industry). There are very few reasons that would be sufficient to override this interest, but Bayer will assess each objection that is submitted in accordance with the process set out below.

Objection Process:

• To object, an HCP should email hcpdisclosure@bayer.com explaining the reason why any data should not be processed.
• Each objection will be reviewed by Bayer and a decision will be taken.
• The HCP will be informed of the decision

Please find further details:

• in the Privacy statement for disclosures of transfers of value 2023 onwards
• Legitimate Interest Information for HCPs

Consent

Disclosure of transfers of value (“TOVs”) relating to activities occurring before 1 January 2023 will be disclosed individually only with written consent from the healthcare professional. Should a healthcare professional not grant his/her consent for individual disclosure, then transfers of value to such a healthcare professional will be reported on an aggregated no-name basis.

We believe that only complete disclosure provides a fair picture of our relationship to a healthcare professional, and therefore will not disclose any partial data at the individual level.

Data Privacy

Bayer fully respects data privacy and data security. We therefore take multiple steps to protect data in compliance with the data privacy policies required and audited by local and global authorities. Bayer implements data security measures to ensure data are protected against external attacks and manipulation. In addition, access to any personal disclosure related data is restricted internally to employees responsible for data collection or report preparation.