Among multinational pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer Korea paid the largest amount of money to local doctors for their attendance in overseas academic events in the third quarter, industry data showed.
According to the drugmakers’ financial support data for local doctors, released on the homepage of the Korea Research-based Pharma Industry Association (KRPIA) for fair competition, 23 multinational pharmaceutical companies spent a combined 1.18 billion won ($1.08 million) on 402 physicians who participated in 46 academic events in the third quarter.
The KRPIA released the data as the drugmakers have completed third-quarter payments for financial support for doctors, which include registration fees, air travels, accommodation costs, meals, and local transportation expenses.
Pfizer Korea offered 14 financial supports, which was the highest number, out of the 23 firms.
In detail, the company gave out about 3.5 million won to a physician at the Soon Chun Hyang University Cheonan Hospital who participated in a two-day annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2017 from Feb. 16-18. It also gave out 11.56 million won to three doctors (each at Asan Medical Center, Dong-A University Hospital, Yonsei Severance Hospital) for 46th Critical Care Congress in the U.S.
Along with other multinational drugmakers such as Lilly, MSD, and Abbvie, Pfizer also supported physicians who attended American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASMBR) 2016, American Academy of Neurology (ANN) 2017, and Asia-Pacific Symposium on Measurement of Mass, Force and Torque (APMF) 2017.
Boehringer Ingelheim Korea paid the largest funding per physician. The company supported 5.77 million won to a physician at Korea University Anam Hospital who attended the Heart Rhythm 2017.
Servier Korea also offered 4.62 million won to a doctor at Ilsan Paik Hospital for participating in the EUROPREVENT 2017 event.
The biggest money with the largest number of doctors went to 2017 European Congress of Radiology (ECR). Bracco Imaging Korea, Guerbet Korea, and Bayer Korea spent a combined 188 million won on 70 physicians at Seoul National University Hospital, Konyang University Hospital, Chonbuk National University Hospital, and Chonnam National University Hospital.
The KRPIA’s fair trade rules limited eligibility of doctors for academic event attendance to presenters, floor leaders, and panels whose role had to be displayed on an event poster or e-poster with presentation time marked. The expenses were limited to transportation costs, registration fees, meals, and accommodation expenses.
The transportation fee covers the shortest round flights on economy class, the round trips between an airport and a hotel, and the one-time round trip between a hotel and the event site per day. During the academic event, the maximum transportation fee covered is limited to 150,000 won per person. The financial support also includes three meals a day (50,000 won per meal) and accommodation fee up to 350,000 won per night (200,000 won per night in a local event).
After the attending the academic event, participating doctors should get necessary documents from the event organizer or a healthcare expert who participated in the event, to prove their attendance. The papers should display the host of the event, content, the amount of financial support, and the details of the usage of the money, through the homepage of the KRPIA.