Overall objective: To ensure the market research meets company and regulatory standards with regard to the appropriateness of approach and the materials used.

MR material should be examined by the commissioning client company to ensure that it does not contravene the ABPI Code of Practice 2024. The appointed person should be sufficiently familiar with the ABPI Code, and all MR materials i.e. screeners, guides/questionnaires and stimulus should be examined.

The purpose of examining/reviewing market research materials is to help ensure that:

• The ABPI Code is adhered to (e.g. avoiding disguised promotion) and regulators’ requirements are met
• Your company’s MR projects meet internal standards
• Data protection legislation has been complied with
• Pharmacovigilance (PV) / Drug Safety requirements related to the MR process are met (This might include understanding the potential for any Adverse Events/Product Complaints /Special Rerporting Situations, ensuring appropriate PV information is provided to participants, and that the means to collect/reconcile PV information is in place)
• Remuneration is in line with company fair market value rates

Reviewers from any or all of the following departments may be involved in examining and evaluating the materials to ensure that they comply with the policies required by the reviewer’s area of expertise:

• Medical/Medical Affairs
• Compliance/Legal
• Pharmacovigilance (PV)/Drug Safety
• Data Privacy 
• Business Intelligence/Market Research Team
• Other commercial departments such as Product Strategy, Market Access and Communications

What market research materials might you be asked to examine?

Key items that you are likely to be asked to examine are the screener, questions asked at recruitment to determine the respondent’s eligibility to participate, the Stimulus Materials: Any material that is to be handed to or displayed to the respondent during the course of the research – e.g. product profiles, positioning statements, advertisement concepts or draft sales aids and Questionnaire (usually used in quantitative research) or Discussion Guide usually used in qualitative research).

 Depending on company policy you may also be asked to review the:

• Request for Proposal (RfP)
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Consent forms (e.g. recruitment or observation agreements)
• Pharmacovigilance agreements
• Data privacy statements