Korean pharmaceutical firms are agonizing over the latest code of ethics by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IFPMA) that ban promotional aids and gifts to physicians.

The IFPMA’s code of ethics does not have a direct impact on local firms’ sales but the industry-wide pressure to join the global trend might make it more challenging to promote medicines, observers said.

Korean drug companies are mostly generic drug manufacturers, and their market shares rely heavily on marketing power. To sell similar drugs in severe competition, local drugmakers tend to focus on distinctive promotional aids to win brand recognition.

Especially after the government toughened rules to punish illegal rebates and the introduction of anti-graft law, pharmaceutical firms became more obsessed with offering tailored promotional aids. For example, they give doctors chargeable hot packs in the winter and portable mini fans in the summer.

Domestic drug firms that co-promote multinationals’ medicines are facing difficulties in promoting original drugs, too.

Sources said some multinationals were pressuring domestic partners to set the goal of selling co-promoted original drugs bigger than generic medicines.

“Most of the local drugmakers would agree with my view. Multinationals strongly push to sell co-promoted products,” a salesperson at a local drug company said. “It will not be easy for local firms to reach the sales goal by simply presenting brochures and clinical data.”

Some others worried that local firms would be in full charge of promotions that other multinationals cannot do because the IFPMA’s code of ethics has a relatively smaller impact on domestic firms.

“Korean drugmakers will find it difficult to follow suit. Then, multinational firms may try to take advantage of this situation,” said a source who wished to be unnamed.

Many multinationals having a Korean unit are moving to follow the IFPMA’s guidelines.

Novartis, AstraZeneca, Roche, Astellas, Pfizer, and Takeda have already adopted the IFPMA’s code of ethics or decided to abandon the existing promotional offering from next year.

“The company notified employees that it would ban promotional aids from next year,” said a salesperson at a Japan-based drug company. “Because we can’t use gifts from next year, we are searching for other ways.”

“Our company has decided to accept the IFPMA’s decision. As drugmakers are shifting their sales method to promoting the drug’s efficacy and safety, we need to change, too,” said an official at a pharmaceutical company.

The IFPMA recently revised the code of ethics to prohibit personal gifts and promotional aids to healthcare professionals from next year.

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