A major requisite for innovation is integrity, which is also the foundation of reputation. Without ethical decision-making, there is no true innovation.
As the first pharmaceutical industry organization in China to attach great importance to compliance, and as a member and an active player of the global pharmaceutical industry association network, RDPAC has continuously strived to reflect the latest standards of international pharmaceutical industry associations, using the Code of Practice of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) as its foundation in doing so. At the same time, RDPAC has kept abreast of the latest requirements of Chinese laws, regulations and policies, and the cutting-edge developments in business practices and compliance controls in China's pharmaceutical industry, providing member companies with the latest and highest standards of compliance based on best practice. Adherence to the RDPAC Code of Practice has also been made a precondition for companies to join RDPAC. Furthermore, RDPAC is supportive of the member companies’ intention to develop and implement their more stringent in-house codes of practice on this basis.
Since the Code of Practice for Drug Promotion was released in 1999, the first of its kind in China's pharmaceutical industry, RDPAC has been continuously revising it, with revisions released in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2015 2017, 2019 and 2022, taking into account Chinese laws and regulations, the prevailing regulatory environment, market development in China, and the latest standards of IFPMA. Over the course of more than two decades of revisions, the Code has been renamed the RDPAC Code of Practice.
Adhering to the new IFPMA approach, the RDPAC Code of Practice (2019 Revision) changed from a Code based on rules to a culture grounded in integrity, values, and principles – and, most importantly, patient trust. The Ethos is the foundation that shapes how the R&D-based pharmaceutical industry sustains trust based on the core values of care, fairness, respect, and honesty in line with ever-changing society's expectations. The Ethos serves to instill a culture of ethics and integrity needed to guide our business behaviors and interactions between RDPAC members and the healthcare community.
RDPAC released the RDPAC Code of Practice (2022 Revision) in November 2022, seeing its scope expanded to encompass interaction of member companies with patient organizations and patients. The 2022 Revision also strengthens the compliance control requirements for the purpose of supporting healthcare professionals, increases compliance control of attendees in speaker programs, refines requirements for review of speakers' presentation materials, enhances compliance control of sole sponsorship, and strengthens requirements for due diligence on healthcare organizations, and adds the content of interaction with patient organizations. The 2022 Revision was approved by RDPAC’s 45 member companies and will take effect on April 1, 2023.
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RDPAC Code of Practice (2022 Revision)