IFPMA Ethos
Ethoscope: Ethics essentials in one place
“The pharma industry is unlike any other. Its innovations can prolong and save lives. We hold ourselves to higher standards than other industries. We owe it to the patients who rely on our medicines.”
The IFPMA Code of Practice
IFPMA’s Ethoscope is a framework that puts ethics and business integrity into action. It includes our expectations on ethical standards and offers guidance on diverse topics to provide clarity and promote continued high-standard alignment across our industry.
Our Ethoscope helps members, patients, and other stakeholders in the global health community cooperate ethically and helps our industry build and sustain trust and innovate responsibly.
The Ethoscope is driven by our Ethos. The Ethos sets out our industry’s guiding principles, founded on trust and supported by our values of care, fairness, respect, and honesty.
Our Ethos underpins the rules of our “Code of Practice”. Since 1981, the IFPMA Code has provided our members with global standards for ethical conduct and engagements with key stakeholders.
Over the years, the Code has been updated and “Notes for Guidance” have been introduced to keep pace with emerging developments in the ever-changing health ecosystem, such as scientific innovations, emerging technologies, and new business models. These require agile guidance on acceptable business practices.