Under the transparency reporting provisions of the Affordable Care Act, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have declared the expenditure incurred by them during the year 2010 of US$ 177 million and $56.8 million respectively towards clinical research studies led by US healthcare professionals. The reporting complies with the company’s Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services and also reflects the minimums and thresholds set forth in the transparency reporting provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Starting in 2013, disclosures of payments and other transfers of value made to US physicians and teaching hospitals will be required of all biopharmaceutical companies operating in the US, in accordance with the Affordable Care Act transparency reporting provisions, previously known as the Physician Payment Sunshine Act.

Pfizer has made  payment of US$ 108 million towards clinical research conducted during 2010 and this reflects work conducted with nearly 1,000 research organizations and academic medical centers to study how medicines work and to develop new medicines. The company's payments to these institutions supported critical clinical trial activities including patient recruitment, coordinating and conducting the trials, and complying with legal and regulatory requirements. These payments represent a small portion of Pfizer's total investment in research and development. The total spending about interactions with nearly 2 lakh health care professionals worked out to $177 million.

Pfizer released a report detailing the company’s financial interactions with health care professionals and researchers in 2010 which included compensation for clinical research activities, professional consulting, and speaking at expert-led forums –- and the value of other items, such as meals, educational items and reimbursed travel expenses, provided to US health care professionals who are licensed to prescribe medicines.

Dr. Steve Romano, senior vice president, Medicines Development Group, Primary Care Business Unit, Pfizer said, “Pfizer depends on the medical and scientific community for a broad range of activities, from conducting clinical trials to providing insight about patient care needs. Through our interactions, we receive valuable information that can help us better serve doctors and patients, or we share information that health care professionals may use to make better treatment decisions for their patients.”

GSK paid a total of $56.8 million for 5,331 healthcare professionals. GSK works with these independent institutions and healthcare professionals because they have considerable expertise in conducting research that contributes to the body of knowledge about diseases and potential new treatments.

“These institutions and associated healthcare professionals contribute their knowledge, time and expertise to partner with the pharmaceutical industry to discover and develop new medicines and vaccines to treat and prevent diseases,” said Moncef Slaoui, GSK’s chairman of research and development.

The report on payments for research lists 127 studies involving 595 different lead researchers or principal investigators (PIs) in the US who were associated with those studies.  The list also includes the clinical research study number In total, GSK paid $28.5 million to these institutions during 2010 for their help in conducting research on topics including cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), macular degeneration, renal and other cancers.  The payments include the costs for study visits and any other costs to conduct the research such as:  procedures (diagnostic tests, laboratory services and patient assessments), detailed monitoring of clinical outcomes and drug safety, and institutional overhead, etc.   In most cases, GSK has no knowledge as to the amount of money paid to the individual PI or lead researcher.