Our work with the pharmaceutical sector
This policy provides clear guidelines about how we work with pharmaceutical companies. Our mission is to change the landscape for people with ocular melanoma cancers by uniting the wider community so that every person receives the support, information, and treatment they need to live well for longer.
To do this, we must engage with the key stakeholders that are central to helping people live well with this disease. The pharmaceutical industry has a crucial role to play in achieving this – and collaborating with the industry is something we know our supporters understand and want us to do.
Throughout the year, work such as projects, services or events will be initiated and worked on by Ocular Melanoma UK, with funding sourced from pharmaceutical companies. Where this is the case, it may be appropriate for their logos to be shown, but this is done in the interest of transparency and not to endorse any specific treatment.
Organisational pharmaceutical policy
We are open and transparent about our partnerships with the industry and only engage where it benefits the people we support. This should enable us to achieve the charity’s mission without compromising our integrity.
This policy ensures our work with pharmaceutical firms does not affect our ability to offer independent and unbiased patient information or influence our campaigning, research or fundraising activities.
We have no preference for working with any one company and welcome funding from multiple companies where practical and appropriate. No pharmaceutical has editorial practice over our work.
We do not accept specific funding for our policy and campaigns work or use pharmaceutical donations to fund our policy and campaigns work. Where necessary, we will campaign against pharmaceutical companies on issues regarding access to drugs and treatments, in the interests of ocular melanoma patients, regardless of any past or present funding from a specific company.
Where regulatory bodies ask us to represent our community, we will seek views from our community or summarise their past experiences, regardless of any past, present or promised funds, from a specific company. We welcome opportunities to raise funds and awareness through cause related marketing and sponsorship. We recognise that individuals who work for pharmaceutical companies may wish to fundraise for Ocular Melanoma UK. As mentioned above, fundraising will not influence our advocacy work or information provided to people living with ocular melanoma cancer.
There may be occasions where we will campaign for equitable access to a particular treatment. We will not accept funding from a pharmaceutical company where the promotion of a specific drug is required or demanded by the company.
Any funding received by Ocular Melanoma UK from a pharmaceutical company must be compliant with the conditions of the ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry. Where a company is not a member of the ABPI we will require written assurances that any partnership work or support will be conducted to the ABPI Code of Practice.
We will declare all financial partnerships with pharmaceutical companies on our website at the end of our financial year, including the total amount received from these companies.
This policy was agreed in October 2022, reviewed in October 2023 & 2024 and due for review in October 2025.