Paper Title International Pharma Congresses during Covid-19

Lorenzo Fanti, Legal Counsel, Novartis AG, Argentina

Pharmaceutical congresses and conferences are one of the preferred resources for doctors to learn about new research, treatments and indications . Such congresses in 2020 have become ’virtual’ in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Normally, the content and events at a physical international congress are designed to comply with the host country’s laws and regulations on the promotion of pharmaceutical products . In the event of a virtual, fully digital congress, it may not be so obvious which country is the host country from a legal & regulatory perspective. Pharmaceutical companies participating in international congresses must therefore assess the question of jurisdiction and applicable laws to proactively comply, and reactively, if required, to go through administrative and/or litigious proceedings eventually brought by health authorities or competitors alike.