Professional Advising and Consulting
What professional advice and consulting are
Health care professionals are a good source of information: Health care professionals may work with Pfizer as professional advisors or consultants, providing us with knowledge, insight, and advice on a range of topics, such as:
- Designing clinical research studies,
- Marketing Pfizer's medicines,
- Reviewing preliminary information about a medicine in development,
- Helping evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medicines, and
- Identifying areas of further study that would be helpful.
How patients benefit
Health care professionals, who are clinicians, can represent patient interests: When health care professionals like your doctor provide their thoughts and advice to Pfizer, it helps ensure your interests as a patient are represented throughout the process of developing new medicines.
They can add their expertise to ours to help patients receive better care: Because medical expertise is not limited to one company or institution and grows through sharing of information, Pfizer supplements its own expertise by consulting with members of the broader medical community to seek best practices and knowledge.
How health care providers benefit
They have an opportunity to engage in important work that can benefit their patients: When doctors work with Pfizer as professional advisors, they have the opportunity to engage in important work developing and improving medicines for the benefit of patients.
How Pfizer benefits
Health care providers give us real-world knowledge: While Pfizer has experienced health care professionals on our staff, we recognize that treatment options and patient needs today are constantly changing. To build on our internal expertise, we rely on the real-world knowledge and understanding of practicing health care professionals.
Policies that govern the gathering and use of professional advice
Professional advisors and consultants must be in good standing: Pfizer ensures that the health care professionals we engage as professional advisors or consultants are in good standing with the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. General Services Administration.
Compensation of professional advisors and consultants:
What we take into consideration: Professional advisors are paid according to fair market value guidelines which are based on:
- the health care professional's specific qualifications
- the amount of time necessary to provide the requested service.
Reimbursement of expenses: If it's appropriate, we may cover travel or food expenses incurred in connection with consulting engagements.
Other policies that govern how we work with professional advisors:
- Authorship of medical publications
- Ethical sales and marketing
- Anti-corruption and anti-bribery principles