ISSUE

: Financial interests are highly prevalent among patient organisations contributing to Health Technology Assessment (HTA), yet recent research found that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) decision making committees were aware of less than a quarter of specific interests. Increasing formal disclosure requirements for HTA bodies would increase transparency around potential conflicts of interest (CoIs), however it may have a negative impact on the willingness of patient organisations to enter partnerships with industry due to concerns about added administrative burden or how the financial relationships will be perceived by the HTA decision makers. How to practically design disclosure policies for patient organisations that meet the needs of decision makers whilst not introducing a barrier to engagement of patient organisations with industry remains under debate.

OVERVIEW

: Katie Hamilton will moderate and provide an overview of current disclosure policies for patient organisations involved in HTA. Michelle Mujoomdar (HTA perspective) will put forward the argument for more comprehensive disclosure policies, to ensure that decision making committees are aware of all relevant interests. François Houÿez (patient organisation perspective) will argue against the need for disclosure of financial interests to HTA bodies, challenging the relevance in this particular context and explaining the challenges this poses for patient organisations, which may be exacerbated by prevalent public mistrust of the pharmaceutical industry. John Munro (industry perspective) will share his perspective on how the disclosure requirements in HTA may impact industry’s ability to establish partnerships with patient organisations. Discussion time will be included and interactive voting used to gain audience input on a series of case studies selected to illustrate key considerations in balancing the needs of HTA decision makers, industry, and patient organisations of differing sizes and across geographies.