We ensure compliant and ethical marketing and interaction with healthcare professionals and patients by adhering to international and national codes governing promotional activities. The core mission of our promotional activities is to provide quality information about our products in compliance with their marketing authorization and to promote their correct use among healthcare professionals.
Good promotional practices require adherence to international rules by as many countries as possible, and effective ethical national legislation. As a global pharmaceutical company, Sanofi follows the codes on promotional activities governing our industry worldwide (IFPMA – International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations), in Europe (EFPIA – European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations) and in the United States (PhRMA – Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America). Sanofi’s internal codes are based on and explicitly refer to these standards.
Code of Conduct
Sanofi’s Code of Conduct reaffirms our commitment to comply with high ethical standards when promoting our products. Under the code, we must promote its products and services ethically, with integrity and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, using accurate, balanced, and non-misleading communications about our products and services. We must also comply with leading practices on stakeholder interactions reflected in the global, regional or local industry Codes, such as IFPMA Code of Practice and Notes for Guidance.
Policies
Our Regulatory Affairs, Ethics & Business Integrity and Chief Medical Officer Departments have established procedures and directives that comply with international standards:
- on scientific information provided via promotional or non-promotional materials: best practice guidelines on the use of promotional documents or materials to communicate information about medicines and healthcare products, and on the provision of items of medical utility, etc.;
- on using websites, social media and mobile applications to provide scientific and promotional information: Digital Governance has established an approval procedure and life cycle process covering all website, social media and mobile applications of Sanofi and its subsidiaries worldwide; and
- on interactions with healthcare professionals: hospitality rules associated with scientific events, and rules governing the remuneration and selection of experts with whom we contract to provide services.
To ensure that our ethical principles are applied in practice, we are also committed to:
- providing continuing professional education for sales representatives, and assessing our sales visit activities;
- applying the strictest ethical standards on scientific materials and activities;
- providing precise, up-to-date and objective scientific information so that our employees are knowledgeable in their interactions with healthcare professionals and comply with the relevant regulatory requirements;
- supplying documentation that enables healthcare professionals to make objective assessments about the quality of our products and the uses for which they were developed;
- ensuring that information about our products is based on scientifically proven results; and
- conducting internal audits to ensure that our subsidiaries comply with the approval procedures for scientific materials and activities, and with internal and external codes of conduct and currently applicable laws and regulations governing promotion.
As part of our Promotion and Scientific Engagement Activities (PSEA) initiative, all Sanofi teams involved in promotional and scientific engagement activities are trained to familiarize themselves with key PSEA-related requirements and execute their activities accordingly, and in full compliance with the highest ethical standards, external regulation and internal policies.
The promotional materials related to Sanofi's products are based on scientifically proven results and undergo an internal review process to ascertain that such materials are objective and fair before they can be used.