Multinational anti-corruption self-regulation in the pharmaceutical sector: Evidence of (in)effectiveness

This paper shall first cast a glance on the factors that in the last decade have triggered the development of compliance systems and of Anti-Corruption Pro-grammes (ACPs) across all private sectors. Second, it shall focus on the risk of cor-ruption presented by the pharmaceutical sector, by focusing particularly on the area of drug promotion. Third, it shall provide some indication of the (in)effectiveness of ACPs as a means to prevent corruption. To this end, the outcome of recent inter-views carried out with Compliance Officers (COs) of Belgian branches of pharma-ceutical giants will be described. Such interviews have been conducted in the con-text of an exploratory study, aimed to gain knowledge about the vulnerabilities to corruption (and/or competition distortion) deriving from the practice of gift-giving in (private-to-public and private-to-private) business relations in the pharmaceuti-cal sector.