Our Position on Working with Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Industry

Arthritis UK is pleased to partner with companies to further our mission of supporting the 10 million people living with arthritis to have access to the treatments and support they need to live the life they choose, with real hope of a cure in the future.

As a charity, we recognise that we can’t achieve this alone and the importance of working collaboratively with all stakeholders with an interest in arthritis to achieve our mission. 

Working with the healthcare industry

Commercial companies who market and manufacture drugs and devices to treat arthritis are an important stakeholder (collectively referred to as ‘industry’), alongside other companies working in the health sector that are developing more and better-tailored solutions that directly benefit people with arthritis. Arthritis UK is open to explore working with such partners to support research and innovation. Whether it’s translating discoveries, reviewing established or prototype products, or gaining insights from people with lived experience, we are driven by a commitment to support innovative ideas and discoveries to progress more quickly and efficiently into practice.

Supporting research and innovation

Financial support from industry can provide a vital contribution to help us achieve our mission. Whilst always protecting our impartiality and independence, we work with companies to build mutually beneficial partnerships. We will always assess our financial relationships in line with our mission, to ensure that such relationships do not unduly influence our strategy or activity. 

Arthritis UK’s approach to partnering with industry is built upon the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) core principles for collaborative working - Integrity, Independence and Transparency. 

Integrity - All partners must be aligned with Arthritis UK’s values: united, compassionate, inclusive and brave. We will always act with honesty and integrity in all that we do.

Independence - We are an independent voice for the 10 million people in the UK living with arthritis. Arthritis UK will ensure that it maintains independence of its decision making in all partnerships.

Transparency - All our collaborations with industry will be transparent. We will report on all financial contributions in our annual report and accounts, which are published on our website and with relevant regulators. 

Our standards and compliance

All Arthritis UK partnerships must conform to the requirements of the Charity Commission of England & Wales (CCEW), the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the Charity Commission of Northern Ireland (CCNI). 

We also recognise the need for both our charity and our partners from the healthcare industry to comply with relevant laws and regulations, such as the Human Medicine Regulation 2012, the UK Bribery Act 2010; as well as the Codes of Practice respectively of the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and the Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI).