Social Media: Use Of Influencers In Drug Promotion Requires Guardrails, Experts Say

Careful identification and vetting of spokespersons, training on FDA regulations, and development of content that conveys the typical patient experience are keys to successful and compliant influencer campaigns, advertising, legal and regulatory experts told a recent DIA conference.

Social media
The FDA's fundamental rules for medical product promotion apply to influencer campaigns on social media. • Source: Shutterstock

Pharmaceutical companies that want to use influencers to promote their products should provide compliance training on US Food and Drug Administration promotional requirements, ensure the content conveys the typical patient experience in line with a drug’s labeling, and set expectations about the need for marketing, legal and regulatory review of content before posting.

Those are some of the rules of the road suggested by regulatory, advertising and legal experts at panel discussions on influencers and social media during the Drug Information Association’s recent...

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