ViiV Healthcare breached Clause 28.1 after HCP website landing page did not clearly steer patients/public away from promotional content

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Key facts

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Case	AUTH/3272/10/19
Company	ViiV Healthcare
Material	Company website (ViiV Exchange: uk.viivexchange.com)
Complaint received	25 October 2019
Case completed	05 October 2020
Applicable Code year	2019
Appeal	No appeal
Breach clauses	28.1
Key issue	Landing page aimed at HCPs; patient/public tabs were not sufficiently prominent; no pop-up/clear prompt; patients/public likely to access POM promotional material
Sanctions	Undertaking received; additional sanctions: Not stated

Reviewed by Dr Anzal Qurbain (FFPM) — ABPI Final Signatory

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A UK health professional complained about ViiV’s website “ViiV Exchange” (uk.viivexchange.com).
The complaint alleged there was nothing to delineate between the general public, patients and health professionals before entering the site, potentially encouraging patients/public to use HCP-only resources.
Visitors landed on a page aimed at healthcare professionals, with small, less prominent tabs (“I am a patient” and “Public site”) in the top right.
No pop-up or similar prompt guided patients/public to the correct pathway off the HCP-focused landing page.
The Panel considered that if patients/public proceeded, they would access promotional material for prescription only medicines.

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Breach ruled: the format and presentation meant patients/public were likely (on the balance of probabilities) to access promotional material and were not encouraged towards material aimed at them.
ViiV’s argument that access restriction was not mandated did not prevent a breach finding where separation/identification was not sufficiently clear in practice.
No appeal.

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