EMD Serono to Adopt Revised and Strengthened PhRMA Code

    ROCKLAND, Mass., July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- EMD Serono, Inc. announced
 today that the company has adopted and will fully implement, the revised
 and strengthened PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals.
 The revised voluntary Code, which builds on the prior 2002 version, was
 approved unanimously by the PhRMA Board of Directors and announced by PhRMA
 earlier today. The revised Code reaffirms that interactions between company
 representatives and healthcare professionals should be focused on informing
 healthcare professionals about the benefits and risks of medicines to help
 enhance patient care, providing scientific and educational information, and
 supporting medical research and takes effect in January 2009. The revised
 Code reinforces the commitment of America's leading pharmaceutical research
 and biotechnology companies, including EMD Serono, to provide up-to-date,
 accurate information to healthcare providers about life-saving and
 life-enhancing medicines.
 
     The adoption of the revised Code reaffirms EMD Serono's pledge to focus
 interactions between company representatives and healthcare professionals
 on informing them of our products and advancing tomorrow's medicines. EMD
 Serono adopted the prior version of the Code in 2002 and actively worked
 with PhRMA on enhancements to the Code. EMD Serono fully supports the
 underlying purpose of the enhanced Code to ensure that interactions between
 industry and healthcare professionals meet the highest ethical standards
 and benefit patients. EMD Serono has implemented a comprehensive
 company-wide Compliance Program; introduction of the revised PhRMA code
 aligns with the company's commitment to best practices and ethics in
 serving the medical community and patients.
 
     "EMD Serono was an early contributor and adopter of the PhRMA code and
 we remain committed to ensuring patients and healthcare professionals have
 the information necessary to understand the scientific and medical benefits
 as well as risks of our products," says Fereydoun Firouz, CEO and President
 of EMD Serono, Inc. and member of the Executive Committee of the PhRMA
 Board of Directors. "We applaud PhRMA and its member companies for
 enhancing the Code. EMD Serono is committed to ensuring our sales
 representatives and other employees understand the Code and continue to
 focus on meeting the unmet medical needs of our patients."
 
     Among its changes, the new Code:
 
     -- Prohibits distribution of non-educational items (such as pens, mugs
 and other "reminder" objects with a company or product logo)
 
     -- Prohibits company sales representatives from providing restaurant
 meals to healthcare professionals, but permits occasional, modest meals in
 a physician's office or hospital in conjunction with representatives'
 informational presentations
 
     -- Reaffirms that companies cannot provide any entertainment to
 healthcare professionals
 
     -- Provides more detailed standards regarding pharmaceutical company
 support of continuing medical education (CME)
 
     -- Offers additional guidance for speaking and consulting arrangements
 with healthcare professionals, including disclosure requirements for
 healthcare providers who serve as speakers or consultants for a
 pharmaceutical company
 
     -- Requires companies to ensure their representatives are sufficiently
 trained about applicable laws, regulations and industry codes of practice
 -- including the revised Code -- and to take appropriate action if
 representatives fail to comply
 
     -- Provides that each company state its intentions to abide by the Code
 and that company CEOs and Compliance Officers certify each year that they
 have processes in place to comply
 
     EMD Serono remains the most knowledgeable about the medicines we
 discover and develop and we remain committed to informing healthcare
 professionals about the company's therapies and research programs. The
 ability to provide physicians with timely, accurate medical and scientific
 data regarding our medicines is of the utmost importance, to help ensure
 proper patient care.
 
     "As the team responsible for EMD Serono's compliance oversight we look
 forward to implementing the revised Code, continuing our strong compliance
 training programs for employees and are very pleased to have participated
 in the development of the new Code," said Robert Freeman, Chief Compliance
 Officer of EMD Serono, Inc. "It remains paramount to our organization that
 our interactions with healthcare professionals meet the highest ethical
 standards while delivering valuable information to healthcare professionals
 and patients."
 
     EMD Serono is one of a few biopharmaceutical companies with US
 headquarters in the state of Massachusetts that is a member of PhRMA. EMD
 Serono remains a leader in conducting ethical interactions with healthcare
 providers to ensure patients can obtain the products necessary to treat
 their illnesses appropriately.
 
     Additional information on the revised code can be seen at www.phrma.org
 
     About EMD Serono, Inc.
 
     EMD Serono, Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a
 leader in the US biopharmaceutical arena, integrating cutting-edge science
 with unparalleled patient support systems to improve people's lives. The
 company has strong market positions in neurodegenerative diseases, with
 Rebif(R) (interferon beta-1a), as well as in endocrinology, with Saizen(R)
 (somatropin (rDNA origin) for injection), Serostim(R) (somatropin (rDNA
 origin) for injection) and Zorbtive(TM) (somatropin (rDNA origin) for
 injection). EMD Serono is a leader in fertility treatments, with Gonal-f(R)
 (follitropin alpha for injection), Luveris(R) (lutropin alfa for injection)
 and Ovidrel(R) Prefilled Syringe (choriogonadotropin alpha injection). With
 a clear focus on the patient and a leadership presence in the
 biopharmaceutical industry, EMD Serono's US footprint continues to grow,
 with more than 850 employees around the country and fully integrated
 commercial, clinical and research operations in the company's home state of
 Massachusetts.
 
     For more information, please visit www.emdserono.com
 
     About Merck KGaA
 
     Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with total
 revenues of EUR 7.1 billion in 2007, a history that began in 1668, and a
 future shaped by 30,968 employees in 60 countries. Its success is
 characterized by innovations from entrepreneurial employees. Merck's
 operating activities come under the umbrella of Merck KGaA, in which the
 Merck family holds an approximately 70% interest and free shareholders own
 the remaining approximately 30%. In 1917 the U.S. subsidiary Merck & Co.
 was expropriated and has been an independent company ever since.
 
     For more information, please visit www.merckserono.net or www.merck.de
 
 
 

SOURCE EMD Serono, Inc.