A new bill introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates requests that pharmas be more specific about the brands related to their otherwise unbranded disease awareness initiatives.
Though awareness campaigns bear no upfront mention of a drug to treat a given disease, they’re typically launched by drugmakers that are either developing or already selling a related treatment. In many cases, awareness campaign websites include a link to learn more about an available treatment that ultimately directs visitors to a separate branded medicine’s website.
The bill (PDF), introduced in February and brought to a hearing in front of the health committee earlier this month, would require pharmas to register with Maryland’s health department before conducting a disease awareness campaign in the state; disclose to the department any drugs or devices they’re developing to treat the disease at the heart of the campaign; and include a statement about those connections in the campaign materials.
The bill also applies to patient advocacy organizations that develop awareness-raising campaigns and receive funding from pharmas developing products related to those campaigns.
At the March 12 hearing, Delegate Deni Taveras, who introduced the bill, noted that while disease awareness campaigns may be beneficial to the public, “the public may not always know that the campaign is funded by a company with a financial interest in the condition being discussed when a cheaper treatment is available.”
Taveras stressed that the proposal doesn’t seek to limit awareness campaigns or free speech—“the bill simply requires transparency,” she said.
The legislator also noted that she planned to amend the bill to add a $10,000 penalty for any violation.
Joining Taveras at the hearing was Caroline Renko, a Maryland resident and associate director of PharmedOut, a Georgetown University project that digs into the pharma industry’s marketing practices.
Renko offered as an example of the need for the bill a 2021 campaign about mild cognitive impairment that she said included false statements about the condition and directed even those with no symptoms to talk to their doctor about screening.
“This campaign, like other industry-sponsored disease awareness campaigns, was about drug promotion, not public health education,” she said.
Though Renko didn’t name the campaign or its sponsor, Stat News linked her statements to a Biogen and Eisai placement in the New York Times ahead of the 2021 approval of the short-lived Aduhelm.
“Industry-funded disease awareness campaigns are vital for marketing expensive drugs and preparing for treatments that are in the pipeline,” Renko said. “Marketing drugs prior to FDA approval is illegal. However, marketing diseases is not.”
Among those offering testimony at the hearing in defense of the current state of awareness campaigns was Josh White, representing the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade group. He highlighted how the initiatives can be “essential” for helping people with serious and rare diseases identify symptoms and seek care earlier, and thus suggested that the bill “risks stigmatizing patient education.”
“This bill would treat awareness campaigns as inherently suspect, and by requiring registration and imposing unworkable disclosure requirements, the bill creates a chilling effect around patient education that could discourage organizations from conducting awareness efforts and help patients recognize symptoms and seek care,” White said.