534 - Hello! We, working on behalf of a European based pharma-company, are planning to sponsor an industry symposium at a 'World Congress' being held in Canada, in 2017. The content of the symposium will be generated by external speakers/expert clinicians. There may be some information/published data presented, relating to the sponsor's and other licensed pharmaceutical products, within the speakers' lectures, related to the wider context of the 'management and treatment' of the condition/s. Do the slides and any other related scientific content, for a symposium within a 'World Congress' setting, need to be submitted for review and approval by PAAB? The sponsoring company's products are licensed in Canada. Thank you, in advance, for your guidance; we appreciate your support.

[Jennifer Carroll]

Hello. The criteria for International Conference materials not to be subject to Canadian advertising regulations are as follows (taken from the Health Canada policy document “The Distinction Between Advertising and Other Activities”):the conference must clearly be an international event, e.g., a significant proportion of the conference delegates are from other jurisdictions,

i. the material must emanate from the parent company of the manufacturer,
ii. the material must only be for use within the confines of the conference, and
iii. the material is prominently identified as not being authorized for sale in Canada.

The slides for the symposium would be subject to Canadian advertising regulations (including the PAAB code) unless all those criteria are met.There are a lot of moving parts which determine whether a symposium at an international conference would require PAAB review so it is difficult to respond to a general question on this matter. However, I can provide some examples of considerations that would impact whether the symposium is likely exempt from Canadian advertising regulations. This is not an exhaustive list.For example, the symposium would likely be subject to the Canadian advertising regulations if the external speakers/expert clinicians are selected (and/or funded) by the Canadian subsidiary rather than the European parent company (as the event would not be emanating from the parent company – criteria ii).As a second example, the symposium would be subject to the Canadian advertising if it where promoted to Canadians either by the parent Company or the Canadian subsidiary (as the corresponding promotion for this symposium would not be within the confines of the conference – criteria iii).If all four criteria listed above are indeed met, then the materials/event would not be subject to Canadian regulatory provisions for advertising (including the PAAB code). I suggest prominently disclaiming that the information comes from the European labelling/Marketing Authorization AND that this information is not consistent with the Canadian labelling/Market Authorization.