Is a conference poster promotional material in India?
It depends on what the poster is doing. An investigator-led poster presenting study data is generally treated as a scientific disclosure rather than promotional material. UCPMP 2024 defines promotion by its effect (Clause 1.1). So a poster that a company sponsors, reproduces, distributes or displays to promote a product is promotional, and the Code applies to it.
In short
- The question is function. Format decides nothing here. Two posters on the same board can sit under different rules.
- Investigator-led scientific presentation: mainly conference and research ethics governance, until the company uses it to promote.
- Brand promotion at a company stand: UCPMP 2024, including Clause 3.2 where it informs prescribing.
- Claims must rest on an up-to-date evaluation of all available evidence (Clause 2.1) and be capable of substantiation (Clause 1.3) wherever the poster is promotional.
- A redrawn chart is a claim. Changing an axis changes what the poster asserts.
The line, and why it matters
A scientific poster presenting a study is usually an academic output. UCPMP 2024 has no exemption for it by category, though. Clause 1.1 defines promotion as activities by manufacturers and distributors 'the effect of which is to induce the prescription, supply, purchase and/or use of medical drugs'. So the test is what the company does with the poster. Company spending on conferences is dealt with in Section 6 of the Code, and support for research in Section 7.
Where a poster is displayed at a commercial exhibition stand to promote a brand, it is promotional material. UCPMP 2024 applies, including Clause 3.2 where its purpose is to inform a prescribing decision. The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act 1954 is not limited to advertising to the public. A promotional poster that links a drug to a condition in that Act's Schedule needs checking against it too. The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945, add a licence condition. No advertisement of Schedule H, H1 or X drugs may be made without previous Central Government sanction (for example Rules 74(p) and 78(q)). The text sets no audience limit. How it applies to material addressed only to prescribers is a question for your regulatory team.
What holds wherever the poster is promotional
Clause 2.1 requires claims about a drug's usefulness to rest on an up-to-date evaluation of all available evidence. A promotional poster that presents data selectively does not become acceptable because it is at a conference. Where the poster is a genuine investigator-led disclosure that the company does not use to promote, selective presentation is mainly a research-integrity question. Once the company uses it to promote, Clauses 1.2, 1.3 and 2.1 apply. Clause 1.2 requires promotion to be consistent with the terms of the marketing approval. So data outside the approved indication cannot be used to promote.
A redrawn graph is a claim
Charts get rebuilt to brand palette and layout, and in the rebuild things change. An axis gets truncated, a scale no longer starts at zero, or error bars are dropped because they crowded the design. Each of those changes what the poster asserts. The citation underneath still looks correct, which is what makes it hard to catch.
Frequently asked questions
Is a scientific conference poster governed by UCPMP 2024?
It depends on what the company does with it. An investigator-led presentation of study data is generally treated as a scientific disclosure, under conference and research ethics rules. UCPMP 2024 defines promotion by its effect (Clause 1.1). So a poster that a company sponsors, reproduces, distributes or displays to promote a product is promotional, and the Code applies.
What changes when a poster is displayed at a company stand?
It is being used to promote, so UCPMP 2024 applies. That includes Section 2 on claims and comparisons. It also includes Clause 3.2 where the poster's purpose is to inform a prescribing decision.
Does the generic name have to be as large as the brand name on a poster?
No. Clause 3.2(ii) requires the generic name immediately adjacent to the most prominent display of the drug name. The Code sets no size relationship, at any format size.
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