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Case Study

The Thailand Industry Association, PReMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer Association) has stewardship of the industry code of marketing practices.

In January 2004, the MD of GSK Thailand, Rick Gain, was appointed to the Board of PReMA and as Chair of its Sales and Marketing Ethics Subcommittee (SMES). At this time the existing marketing practices code was three years old and made general rather than specific commitments.

Rick's priority was to reform the industry code bringing it into line with US and European norms. The Code was strengthened in a number of areas. For example, guidance on sponsorship for overseas conferences was strengthened. The revised Code now prohibits sponsorship of overseas meetings where all (or nearly all) the attendees or speakers are from Thailand. This aims to prevent overseas travel being used as an inducement to conference participants.

The review process took nine months and involved gaining agreement from 12 major member companies of PReMA. The new code was adopted by the PReMA Board in November 2004 and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the member companies. Commercial staff received training on the revised code from senior members of the SMES in December 2004.

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