Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[irishpaddy]

Under Directive 2001/83/EC, “advertising” includes a wide range
of activities that are designed to promote the prescription, supply,
sale or consumption of medicinal products. There is a general
prohibition on advertising prescription-only medicines (“POM”) to
the general public,i
although it is permissible to advertise non-POM
products, such as over-the-counter pain relief medication.
There are exceptions to this prohibition, which allow pharmaceutical
companies to supply information on POMs directly to patients
without it being seen as promotional. In particular, the definition
of advertising does not include, among other things: (i) factual,
informative announcements and reference material, provided no
product claims are made; or (ii) information relating to human health
or diseases, provided there is no reference to medicinal products.
Companies can therefore provide “information” to the public and
healthcare professionals (“HCP”). This is most obviously seen in
the summary of product characteristics (“SmPC”) directed at HCPs,
and the patient information leaflet (“PIL”) directed at patients;
these documents can be, and in some countries are encouraged to
be, posted on company websites.