Since January 1, 2021, MedTech Europe and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) have a common platform assessing medical conferences.
The two trade associations have a long-standing experience and commitment to strong ethical principles for the support provided in the context of medical congresses. Recently, both associations have decided to combine the assessments done by MedTech Europe’s Conference Vetting System (CVS) and EFPIA’s assessment platform, e4ethics.
MedTech Europe and EFPIA stated that they are building on existing capacities to create efficiency. The objective of such a move is to ensure consistency and harmonization across the healthcare industry for the benefit of all stakeholders involved.
They summarized that, “since 1st January 2021, with a 6-month pilot period, both platforms are aligned in most aspects:
- Both platforms operate independently from EFPIA and MedTech Europe, via a common compliance team, to ensure objectivity and independence in conference assessments.
- e4ethics is aligned with the CVS criteria and approach, including the online proactive submissions by companies or congress organizers.
- The submission procedure and appeal process are identical for both systems.”
However, the type of events qualifying for review will remain different. Details can be found here.
Assessment outcomes are binding for all member companies. As it is already the case for MedTech Europe members, all companies need to receive a positive assessment to support an event. More information and details can be found here.
Frederique Reijntjes
Senior Legal Consultant
February 10, 2021