Ethical marketing
Raising awareness of ADHD in Europe
One of our long-term aims is to launch our portfolio of ADHD treatments in Europe. This is potentially a very significant market for us and one where the causes and consequences of ADHD for patients and families are still not fully appreciated.
Europe is currently a smaller market for ADHD than the US. There are a number of reasons for this, some of them cultural, and some of them historical. The condition tends to be misunderstood, and erratically diagnosed in Europe, which has made some governments reluctant to pay for drugs. And even where awareness is much higher, there’s a much greater resistance to using medication than there is in the US, which leads to a strong preference for behavioural treatments.
While Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (‘CBT’) and other similar techniques are an important component of any comprehensive approach to dealing with ADHD, the medical community believes that there’s an equally important role for medication, and many patients, both children and adults, could benefit from using the right drugs, prescribed in the right way. But the very fact that ADHD is generally—if mistakenly—viewed as a problem that only affects children, complicates any attempt to engage in an objective debate. Media coverage in the UK has been particularly emotive, with headlines like ‘The great ADHD myth’ or ‘Drugs for ADHD’ ‘not the answer’, and claims that ‘400,000 British children are taking hyperactivity drugs’.
The US may now be much more aware about the potential advantages of using medication to manage ADHD, but this wasn’t always the case. We were at the forefront of the development of the ADHD market in the US, and had to engage in a very similar debate there in the early years. We’ve learned a great deal from that experience and we are applying that learning in the planning we’re currently doing for our ADHD treatments in Europe. But whether in the US or now in Europe, our aim is always to focus on the science, and not on the myths.
We want to make it easier for the voices of experts to be heard, so that physicians will be better placed to make the right decisions for their patients, and the debate can be based on fact not fiction. For example, sceptics in Europe say that perceived ADHD symptoms either relate to normal childhood naughtiness, or are the consequence of poor parenting. In fact the diagnostic process for ADHD is rigorous. Clinicians use guidelines and diagnostic tools to aid them. A final diagnosis will usually only be made if the child demonstrates symptoms of ADHD over a chronic period and in multiple settings.
A more balanced debate
Most of our work to raise awareness of the facts about ADHD is being done with patient advocacy groups and physicians, rather than as a collaborative effort with other pharma companies. But working with patient groups is a sensitive area and one where there are—quite properly—constraints on how this can be done. There are a number of different national codes of conduct in Europe, and Shire also has its own internal rules governing any activity that could be regarded as ‘promotions’, which are getting tighter all the time.
But there are still many positive things we can do. For example we’ve funded the production of a questionnaire about the effect of ADHD on children and their carers, which have been taken up by patient groups across Europe, who are encouraging families to complete it. Information like this can be an incredibly
helpful input to the wider debate, and demonstrate to both the public and sceptics alike that ADHD is real, and its impact on families can be devastating. We’re also working with charities like Kids Company and Action on Addiction, who deals with the consequences of ADHD every day.
At the other end of the scale we’re also working with specialist physicians, including the European Network of Hyperkinetic Disorders (EUNETHYDIS). This is a group of child psychiatrists, psychologists, and paediatricians who are working together to come up with a model for best practice in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. We’ve supported a Continuing Medical Education meeting for them in Germany, as well as an international conference on Understanding ADHD. Shire has been actively reviewing draft guidelines for treatment of ADHD in Europe and will provide comments to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA).
It’s important that we get the European launch of our ADHD treatments right—not just for commercial and strategic reasons, but because we have the opportunity to raise the level of awareness to help ensure that patients benefit from diagnosis and treatment of their ADHD. As Lynda Lynch, Shire’s Director of International Marketing for ADHD, says, “It’s not just about doing the right thing, but also a chance to be a true advocate, at the forefront of helping patients.”
Did you know...
At Shire, we're a team of just under 4,000-strong, with each one of us dedicated to helping people with life-altering conditions to lead better lives.
Key fact
We try to find new therapies
for rare and life-threatening
diseases.
