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UNDERSTANDING THEHealthcare LawsThat GovernOur Industry IntroductionIntegrity is a core value at Regeneron and lies at the heart ofeverything we do. We believe that our employees want to do theright thing. However, we work in a highly-regulated, highly-scrutinizedindustry where identifying the right thing is not always easy. ThisGuide is intended to provide you with important backgroundinformation on the laws, rules and company policies related tohealthcare law compliance
Through this Guide, you will gain an understanding of: n How healthcare laws apply to our activities n Which activities may raise potential concerns n What we must do to comply with the healthcare laws n How you can help in maintaining healthcare law complianceAs a company, we are growing and expanding into new areas
With the launch of our first product and the initiation of company-sponsored clinical trials in foreign countries, we have enteredterritory that we had not previously navigated. That territory carrieswith it new laws, regulations, responsibilities and risks that we allmust be aware of. For many of you, this Guide is the first step ingaining that awareness
There are many legal and regulatory regimes that apply toour conduct. We must manufacture our products in accordancewith Good Manufacturing Practices. Our research is guided byboth Good Laboratory Practices and Good Clinical Practices
Environmental laws, labor laws and securities laws all impact theway we conduct our business. Every applicable legal or regulatoryframework is important and demands the utmost integrity andcompliance. This Guide provides an introduction to one of thoseregimes – the United States Healthcare laws
If you have any questions about the material in this Guide orhow the laws, regulations or company policies apply to you,contact our Chief Compliance Officer, Beth Levine or ourGeneral Counsel, Joe LaRosa
1 Overview of Applicable Laws & Codes There are many different legal and regulatory regimes that govern our conduct as we engage in the commercialization of our pharmaceutical products. Even inadvertent violations of these laws can result in both criminal and civil penalties for Regeneron. A growing number of pharmaceutical companies have paid hundreds of millions (and even billions) of dollars in fines, seen their employees criminally prosecuted and been forced to accept ongoing government scrutiny of their activities. With the expansion of government funding for prescription drugs, the government has become one of the largest purchasers of prescription drugs. As a result, we can expect the government to closely scrutinize our practices in the years to come
Anti-Kickback Law The federal Anti-Kickback Law prohibits payments or any form of remuneration that is intended to reward past prescribing or induce someone to purchase, prescribe or recommend a product that is reimbursed under a federal healthcare program (such as Medicare and Medicaid). The Anti-Kickback Law is based on the notion that a healthcare provider’s decision about their patient’s treatment must not be influenced by motives of personal gain. While the Anti-Kickback law is a federal statute, many states have enacted similar state laws. The federal and state anti-kickback laws, which are also knows as the “fraud and abuse” laws, seek to protect government healthcare programs and patients from improper influence on prescribing decisions
For example, the laws prohibit the following: n Providing a gift to a healthcare professional to influence the selection of our products n Awarding a research grant to a physician because he or she is a high potential prescriber n Purchasing services from a healthcare provider (e.g., for clinical trials or consulting) at a fee that is greater than the reasonable, fair market value for such services2 The Anti-Kickback Law also contains certain “safe harbors” thathave been defined by the Inspector General of the Department ofHealth and Human Services (“OIG”) as acceptable. Conduct thatfalls within the guidance of a safe harbor is less likely to beconsidered a violation of the law. There are safe harbors relatingto discounts, managed care contracting and personal servicesagreements (such as consulting and clinical trial arrangements)that enable us to engage in common business practices withoutviolating the law
Regeneron’s policies and practices are designed to ensure thatour business conduct falls within one of these safe harbors oris otherwise legally permissible. Each situation is largely drivenby its own unique facts and circumstances. Generally, however,providing something of value to our customers is illegal underthe anti-kickback laws if a purpose of the payment is to increaseprescribing or use of our drugs. If you’re unsure about whether anactivity is permissible, contact the Law Department
3 The PhRMA Code The PhRMA Code is a voluntary, self- PhRMA is the trade as- regulatory guideline published by the sociation of the pharma- Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers ceutical industry. The of America (“PhRMA”) to govern the biotech trade organi- relationships between industry and physicians zation, Biotechnology and other healthcare providers. Regeneron Industry Organization has adopted the (“BIO”) also supports the A HCP is generally PhRMA Code and PhRMA code principles
defined as someone with has agreed to prescribing authority, adopt the following such as a physician or principles in its interactions with healthcare nurse practitioner. professionals (“HCPs”)
Meals and Entertainment. Informational interactions with HCPs may not include entertainment (e.g., theater, sporting events, golf, etc.). On occasion, however, it may be appropriate to provide a modest meal to an HCP in conjunction with a meeting or informational interaction. Any such meals must be modest in cost, must not occur more than occasionally and must be in a location conducive to providing scientific or educational information
Gifts or Reminder Items. The PhRMA code prohibits the distribution of non-educational and practice-related items, such as pens, pads, clipboards, etc. The code also prohibits gifts to HCPs for their personal benefit. Items of educational value to the patient or the HCP, such as anatomical models, medical textbooks, etc., may be provided
However, these items must not be of substantial value and must not have a value to the HCP outside of the HCP’s medical practice
Continuing Medical Education. Companies may provide financial support for continuing medical education (“CME”) programs that are consistent with guidelines that are published by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (“ACCME”). Financial support for such programs must be provided directly to the CME provider. It is not appropriate to pay for individual attendees’ expenses. In order for a program to comply with ACCME guidelines, Regeneron may not design the program, develop the agenda, select the speakers or influence the content in any way
4 Consultants. Legitimate consulting arrangements with HCPsare appropriate. However, token consulting arrangements mustnot be used to justify payments to HCPs. Characteristics oflegitimate consulting arrangements include a documented needfor services, selection of consultants based on their expertise (notas a reward or inducement for prescribing behavior), retainingno more consultants than are needed for the identified businesspurpose and obtaining a deliverable from the consultant that issubsequently used by the company. All payments for consultantsmust be based on fair market value and the arrangement must beembodied in an appropriate consulting agreement
Consultant Meetings. It is appropriate and often necessary to holdmeetings for our clinical trial investigators or members of our advisoryboards or other consultants. However, the venue and agenda forsuch meetings must be thoughtfully considered to ensure that themeeting does not appear to be an improper inducement to prescribeour drugs. Resort locations are not appropriate venues for suchHCP meetings because the surroundings detract from the businesspurpose of the meeting. The agenda for such meetings should berobust and the hotel stays should be limited to the minimum numberof nights necessary for the meeting. Moreover, while reimbursementfor travel and lodging expenses is permitted, it is not appropriate topay an honorarium to non-faculty attendeesat such meetings. Speakers and meeting For example, a winterchairpersons, however, can be compensated meeting in a beachfor any additional work that their roles resort location over arequire. It is also important to remember weekend with meetingthat spouses should not be invited to attend times only in thecompany-sponsored meetings and if they do mornings would notattend, the company cannot pay for any of be appropriate
their expenses
5 State Disclosure Laws In recent years, many states have enacted laws that require pharmaceutical Congress also enacted companies to track and report meal Open Payments (the expenses, gifts and other financial Sunshine Act), effec- relationships with HCPs in their states. tive August 1, 2013, As a result, it is important for all Regeneron which also requires the employees who interact with HCPs to tracking and reporting classify appropriately in their expense of such expenses
report any expenses associated with those interactions (such as meal expenses or other transfers of value)
Best Price and False Claims Act The federal government is one of the largest purchasers of prescription drugs through such programs as Medicare and Medicaid. Federal law states that certain federal healthcare programs are entitled to rebates based on the lowest price that a pharmaceutical company offers to any customer (subject to certain exceptions). This is known as the company’s “best price” for the product. Regeneron is responsible for calculating and reporting its best price for each product on a quarterly basis. In calculating best price, we must consider any discounts, rebates or free goods that we provide, and any non-price concessions that are offered in connection with a sale
Failure to properly calculate best price could result in inaccurate price reporting, which can carry significant penalties
Submission of inaccurate pricing data can also have consequences under the False Claims Act, which makes it a crime to deliberately submit a false claim to the government. The False Claims Act also applies to third parties who assist someone in the submission of a false claim. Thus, a pharmaceutical company that helps, encourages or causes a customer to make a false claim for reimbursement can be liable for the customer’s false claim. For example, the government has criminally prosecuted pharmaceutical companies for encouraging physicians to seek reimbursement for free product samples supplied by the companies
6 Food and Drug LawsUnder the Food, Drug and Cosmetic FDA laws also governAct, the Food and Drug Administration other aspects of our(“FDA”) is responsible for approving new business, such as manu-pharmaceutical products and regulating facturing, clinical trialshow they are marketed and sold. Thus, it is and pharmacovigilance
important for every employee to have a basic This discussion focusesunderstanding of the rules we follow to ensure on the aspects of foodcompliance with FDA laws and regulations. and drug law govern- ing the advertising and promotion of pharma-Labeling. FDA regulates the labeling of all ceutical products
prescription drug products that are marketedfor sale in the U.S. The term “labeling”includes more than just the information on the package label. Inaddition, the package insert (or prescribing information, or “P.I.”)as well as all other materials that are provided by the manufacturerabout the drug are considered “labeling.” Any materials that weuse to promote the use of a Regeneron drug product, includingadvertising in any media (print, TV, internet), brochures, patienteducation, etc., must be consistent with our FDA-approved labeling
Promotion. The FDA regulates not just the contents of productlabeling, but also the conduct of pharmaceutical companies inpromoting their products. Thus, the FDA issues guidance on manydifferent dimensions of product promotion, such as the amount ofdata necessary to make a comparative claim between different drugproducts. To ensure that our promotionalactivities are in compliance with FDA lawand regulations, an appropriate Review RC is also charged withCommittee (“RC”) is charged with reviewing reviewing certain clinicaland approving all company promotional trial-related materials,materials prior to use. The committee is such as communicationsmade up of representatives from Medical to investigators, patientAffairs, Commercial, Regulatory and Legal, recruitment materialswith participation by relevant individuals from and postings on clinicalClinical Sciences. trials databases (i.e., clinicaltrials.gov)
7 Any promotional materials prepared by or on behalf of Regeneron about our drug products must: n Be truthful and not misleading n Present a fair balance of risks and benefits n Include the full prescribing information or a brief summary (as the regulations may require) Off-Label Use. One of the trickiest issues facing the pharmaceutical industry is that of off-label use. When the FDA approves a drug, it does so only for the purposes, or “indications,” that are identified in the approved package insert. Any use of the product that is inconsistent with the approved package insert is considered an “off-label use.” What makes this tricky is that HCPs can prescribe products for off-label uses in the exercise of their professional judgment. However, pharmaceutical companies may not solicit, encourage or promote unapproved uses of a product. When conducting clinical trials on potential new indications for an approved product, we must be careful to avoid suggesting or implying that physicians use the approved product for the unapproved use
The same principle applies to unapproved products. Pre-approval promotion – promotion of a drug candidate before FDA approval – is strictly prohibited
While drug developers are not permitted to promote off-label use of their products or engage in pre-approval promotion, the FDA does respect the need for robust, scientific debate about medicinal products and recognizes that the company is often the best source of truthful information about its products. As such, companies are permitted to disseminate truthful, non- misleading scientific information about unapproved drug products or unapproved uses of drug products in response to unsolicited requests for such information from an HCP
8 As a general rule, when an unsolicited question is posed toRegeneron, a brief, scientifically accurate response should beprovided only by a representative of Regeneron’s Medical Affairsdepartment (such as one of our field-based Regeneron ScienceManagers or by our Medical Affairs hotline). Neither Regeneronemployees nor anyone hired to speak on Regeneron’s behalf mayproactively offer off-label information in a promotional context, norcan they solicit HCP questions about off-label use
Any requests for scientific information about our productsshould be forwarded to our Medical Affairs department(1-877-REGN-777), who tracks and responds to such requests
Questions related to participation in clinical trials should beforwarded to the clinical trials hotline (1-877-REGN-123)
Companies are also permitted, and often required, to makedisclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission and totheir investors about the progress of products in development
These communications must be carefully crafted to avoid FDAconcerns related to pre-approval or off-label promotion
9 Adverse Event Reporting. Along with the privilege of commercializing a pharmaceutical product comes the responsibility of reporting safety information to the FDA and other regulatory authorities in a timely fashion. Each employee or agent of Regeneron is responsible for reporting the safety information on any Regeneron product, marketed or investigational, that comes to his or her attention. Adverse safety information that comes to your attention must be reported immediately to the Regeneron Call Center by phone: 1-877-REGN-777, fax: 1-888-876-2736 or email: [email protected] Items that must be reported include: n Adverse events: an undesired event that occurs with drug use, whether or not the event is related
n Lack of effect: any failure of a drug to work as expected
n Quality-related issues: concerns about problematic particulates in a vial
n Other general drug-related issues: medication error, use during pregnancy, difficulty administering an injection, etc
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