In its Extraordinary General Meeting held on 4 November 2020, the association has passed a motion to adopt a set of HKAPI Virtual Engagement Guidance with Health Care Professionals to address the situations involving the provision of meals during virtual conferences and the dissemination of promotional materials and scientific information via electronic tools.

The HKAPI Virtual Engagement Guidance provides additional pointers for members to better comprehend and observe their companies’ own guidance and the HKAPI Code of Practice. This guidance is particularly useful while members are likely to come across different grey areas arising from virtual meetings and on-line communications during the Covid 19 pandemic.

In light of the growing popularity of the use of virtual modes of interactions, we foresee that the guidance is not an one-off tool but it has a bigger role to play even after the Covid 19 pandemic eventually ends. Therefore, the HKAPI will closely monitor the situation and revise the guidance from time to time to keep pace with the changes.

The global pandemic of COVID 19 has changed the mode of operations in all walks of life that the biopharmaceutical industry is no exception. While accommodating the global trend of moving from face-to-face contact to virtual settings, the HKAPI continues to firmly uphold its mission to maintain a high standard of integrity and compliance in the industry.