Disclosure UK 2024: new record for transparency, with nine in ten healthcare professionals named in database

In these blogs, Dr Amit Aggarwal, ABPI Director of Medical Affairs, and Alex Fell, PMCPA Chief Executive, discuss the latest data published on Disclosure UK, the industry database which records payments and benefits in kind from pharmaceutical companies to NHS organisations and medical professionals.

Dr Amit Aggarwal, ABPI Director of Medical Affairs

This year, Disclosure UK [1] celebrates its tenth anniversary – a big birthday! Such an important milestone gives us an opportunity to take a step back and reflect on where we are and how far we have come.

One thing has not changed. UK healthcare needs continue to grow, with people living longer but not necessarily healthier lives [2]. Preventable childhood illnesses are on the rise, some driven in large part by falling vaccination coverage across the UK. [3,4] It is therefore hardly news to say that the demands on the NHS have never been greater.

Now more than ever, collaboration between the NHS and industry is vital to delivering better care and improved health outcomes. These partnerships bring a range of benefits: enhancing how treatments are delivered, ensuring fair and equitable access, accelerating the uptake of innovation, and supporting a more sustainable healthcare system.

To maintain public confidence and trust, these interactions must be transparent. Disclosure UK plays a key role in this, offering a publicly accessible platform that details payments and benefits-in-kind provided by pharmaceutical companies to healthcare professionals and organisations. For a full summary of this year’s data, see below. [5]

How far we have come

In 2016, we published the first-ever data on Disclosure UK for 2015. In that data, the estimated percentage of healthcare professionals named was just 55 per cent. Since then, through our work with industry and the medical communities, we have seen this rate improve year on year.

Today, we celebrate a new transparency record, with an estimated nine in ten (91.9 per cent) of healthcare professionals named [6]. This compares to 80.8 per cent for 2023 and 78.8 per cent for 2022.

Of all the non-R&D [7] transfers of value recorded on Disclosure UK – 98.5 per cent of the value reported is now published against a named person or organisation, this is up from 74 per cent ten years ago.

The consistent and positive rise in named healthcare professionals is thanks to a variety of factors, including an increasing number of companies, (more than 50) changing their approach to data reporting under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), using the lawful basis of ‘Legitimate Interests’ instead of ‘Consent’ as a means of processing healthcare professionals’ data. This allows companies to almost always publish the names of healthcare professionals they work with on Disclosure UK, unless there is a really good reason not to. (What is Legitimate Interests?).

We must acknowledge that such an increase is also the result of more than ten years of collective advocacy encouraging healthcare professionals to agree to be open and named against the values they receive for working with industry. Pharmaceutical companies, professional organisations like the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, NHS England, the ABPI, and many others have all played their part in this.

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges advocacy

I was delighted to read the reflections from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) on 10-years of transparency in HCP-Industry relationships. In it, Dr Jeanette Dickson, AoMRC says:

‘Over the next ten years, it will continue to be essential for the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry to work together to improve patient care.

Making sure those relationships are open and transparent must be part of the UK government’s upcoming 10-year plan for the NHS, as well as part of standard operating practice for the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry.’’

Investment in R&D

The second highlight for me this year, is the increase in R&D [8] value to £554.0 million for 2024, a 19 per cent year on year increase, up from £467.0 million in 2023, and £440.6 million in 2022.

The increase in R&D value in 2024 is likely due to several factors, including increased costs associated with carrying out research, and to a lesser extent, more companies reporting on Disclosure UK. Some of the R&D value increase will also be due to the rise in number of clinical trials taking place in the UK, after a period of sharp decline which culminated in the government commissioned O’Shaughnessy review of commercial trials.

This is good to see, but we are not complacent. We want to go further in attracting R&D investment to the UK to ensure even more opportunities for the NHS and industry to work together to create the medicines and vaccines people need.

Future of transparency

The ABPI has championed disclosure in its earliest forms via the ABPI Code of Practice since 2006. Disclosure UK has played a key role in increasing transparency as it has evolved since launching in 2016. However, the jurisdiction of the ABPI Code regulator, the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), only goes so far. While a significant majority of the pharmaceutical industry abide by the ABPI Code and accept the jurisdiction of the ABPI Code regulator, the PMCPA, those companies outside of self-regulation do not disclose payments.

This is why we welcomed the government’s proposals to strengthen industry’s disclosure systems. While the outcome of the consultation is still under review, we look forward to working with government and other areas of life-sciences to develop and evolve good practice.

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Alex Fell, Chief Executive of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA)

The PMCPA is the independent body established by the ABPI in 1993 to administer the ABPI Code of Practice. We ensure high standards are upheld through a fully independent and transparent complaints system. Any complaints relating to the ABPI Code are investigated and pharmaceutical companies are held accountable for compliance. This includes living up to their commitment to accurately and fully report any transfers of value on Disclosure UK.

For me, the highlight of this year’s Disclosure UK data is that more companies [9] are disclosing than ever before as part of self-regulation – 151 companies – up from 109 in 2016, the year Disclosure UK launched.

Disclosure is mandatory for all pharmaceutical companies abiding by the ABPI Code, all those which are members of the ABPI, but also many more outside ABPI membership who formally accept the authority of the PMCPA. The increase in companies disclosing through Disclosure UK is welcome and their commitment to full and accurate transparency is essential if the sector is to maintain the trust of patients and the public.

The main role of Disclosure UK is to publish payments and benefits in kind from the pharmaceutical industry to healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations.

However, Disclosure UK also hosts two ‘gateways’ enabling visitors to find information about two further recipient types: patient organisations and members of the public, including individual patients and journalists. These disclosures are published on individual companies’ websites. The gateways publish links to these websites making the information easier to find.

Submitting links to these gateways is now mandatory for companies under the 2024 ABPI Code – before this year, it was optional, although strongly encouraged.

Being open about interactions between patients, patient organisations, and industry is key to building and sustaining public trust. This year, the European pharmaceutical association (EFPIA) published a blog co-authored by the CEO and President from two patient groups reflecting on the importance of patient expertise in medicine development and why consistent, Europe-wide, transparency matters.

In the UK, transparency requirements have evolved significantly over the last ten years often going beyond European requirements, so that more information is available and accessible to the public. We look forward to continuing this journey of evolution in future years.

Summary of Disclosure UK data 

• Total disclosed value, including R&D and non-R&D, increased by 17% to £813.3 million in 2024, from £692.5 million in 2023, and £642.1 million in 2022.
• Total R&D value was £554.0 million in 2024, up from £467.0 million in 2023, and £440.6 million in 2022. The percentage split of R&D vs non-R&D remains similar.
• Total non-R&D value was £259.2 million in 2024, up from £225.5 million in 2023, and £201.6 million in 2022. This value increase is mostly attributed to payments to organisations. The number of activities with healthcare professionals has also increased, but not the average amount paid per HCP.
• Of the total non-R&D value, 98.5% is published against a named person or organisation, which is higher than the 95.8% for 2023, and 95.1% for 2022.
• The estimated percentage of healthcare professionals named against non-R&D values has increased to 91.9%, from 80.8% for 2023, and 78.8% for 2022.
• More than 50 companies used the lawful basis of Legitimate Interests to publish information about healthcare professionals.
• Collaborative Working [10] between industry and the NHS has decreased - with £22.1 million invested by companies in 2024, down from £24.9 million in 2023, but an increase from £15.5 million in 2022. This appears to be due to slightly lower activity levels in 2024 than 2023, however the individual value of each activity is about the same. See the ABPI’s library of 300+ partnerships in action.
• Values for contracted services increased in 2024 to £113.0 million from £91.2 million in 2023 and £90.7 million in 2022. The increase in 2024 compared with 2023 is almost entirely due to a greater number of activities with organisations.

References

[1] Disclosure UK is the public, searchable database publishing ‘transfers of value’ (payments and benefits in kind) from pharmaceutical companies to UK healthcare professionals and organisations. It is part of pharmaceutical industry transparency requirements across Europe. You can find the Disclosure UK database and other resources at www.disclosureuk.org.uk.

Transfers of value disclosed via Disclosure UK include both direct or indirect payments, and benefits-in-kind, for example the value of a train ticket or accommodation.

[2] Science Daily, ‘The global divide between longer life and good health’, Dec 2024

[3] UK Health Security Agency, Measles outbreaks continue with risk of holidays causing surge - GOV.UK, June 2025

[4] NHS England, NHS England » Searches for NHS advice on childhood illnesses surge in 2024, Jan 2025

[5] The 2024 HCP/HCO data can be broken down as illustrated in the following chart:


Note: Figures do not add up exactly due to rounding.

[6] The percentage of named individuals is related to the lawful basis a company uses to process healthcare professionals’ data under the GDPR. For example, if a company is using ‘Consent’ as the lawful basis, but permission is withheld by the HCP, the value can only be published in aggregate (not against a named person) on Disclosure UK.

The percentage rate of named healthcare professionals can only be estimated. Many healthcare professionals work with multiple companies so the same individual could appear in multiple companies’ aggregate data. A formula is applied taking into account an estimate of duplicates to give the estimated overall named HCP rate. Our data analysts use the same formula each year for consistency.

[7] Values for non-R&D collaborations are broken-down and published against individually named healthcare professionals where data protection law allows, or healthcare organisations. These activities include:

• Registration fees – e.g., a company paying for an HCP to attend a medical conference for education and training.
• Sponsorship agreements with HCOs – e.g., a company may fund an independent organisation to run a training seminar.
• Travel and accommodation – e.g., paying for the accommodation or rail fares for an HCP to attend a conference.
• Donations and grants to HCOs – e.g., buying equipment for HCOs, such as medical equipment, books, or products which support disaster relief.
• Contracted services: Fees – e.g., paying HCPs for their time to sit on advisory boards and help with the development of medicines.
• Contracted services: Related expenses – e.g., travel and accommodation requirements to support an HCP to deliver the work they were contracted to do for a pharmaceutical company.
• Collaborative working – which refers to pharmaceutical companies working with other organisations to deliver initiatives which either enhance patient care or are for the benefit of patients or alternatively benefit the NHS and, as a minimum, maintain patient care.
• More information in How we work with HCPs and How we work with HCOs.

[8] Values for research and development (R&D) are always published in aggregate and include transfers of value to healthcare professionals or healthcare organisations related to the planning or conduct of:

• non-clinical studies (as defined in the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice)
• clinical trials (as defined in Directive 2001/20/EC)
• non-interventional studies that are prospective in nature and involve the collection of data from, or on behalf of, individual or groups of healthcare professionals specifically for the study
• costs that are subsidiary to these activities are also included.

Disclosure UK is part of a European-wide transparency requirement for the pharmaceutical industry administered by EFPIA. European-level requirements are that R&D is disclosed in aggregate. There are various challenges to breaking down this data further, including that many R&D payments are blinded, issues with confidentiality agreements, challenges for companies reporting differently across multiple countries, and adding more red tape to R&D activities at a challenging time for UK clinical trials.

[9] The number of disclosing companies per year can fluctuate due to mergers or acquisitions, starting or ending relevant UK activity, or new companies formally complying with the ABPI Code of Practice.

[10] Collaborative working is a form of partnership where the NHS and companies pool skills and resources on initiatives to benefit patients and/or the NHS as a whole. See the latest guidance from the ABPI and the NHS Confederation: Accelerating transformation: How to develop effective NHS-industry partnerships.