Ethics of offshoring: Novo Nordisk and Clinical Trials in Emerging Economies

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Here, Novo Nordisk could face issues. Despite its strong stance on corporate responsibility, and transparent guidelines, the media could easily scrutinize a move by Novo Nordisk to conduct a trial in an undeveloped country to circumvent approvals that would not have normally been granted in a developed country. To protect itself, Novo Nordisk should be able to prove that it has been compliant with internationally accepted norms, guidelines, and standards as well as national laws and regulations of the undeveloped country. Furthermore, Novo Nordisk’s activities and trials in the undeveloped country should be aimed at creating new value for the communities which it’s impacting. If Novo Nordisk adheres to its policy of only conducting clinical trials in countries where local affiliates can properly monitor its progress as well as only using patients who have need for the drug, then they can pass this test under pressure of the media. Novo Nordisk should also have full control in terms of the costs, risks, liabilities, and negative impacts of conducting a clinical trial in an undeveloped country. To achieve this, Novo Nordisk should ensure that mangers and overseers of the clinical trials are aware of the guiding principles for ethical behavior: respect for core human values, which determine the absolute moral threshold for business activities, respect for local traditions, and the belief that context matters when deciding what’s right and what’s wrong. When dealing with a journalist, and the media, Anders Dejaard should keep the third principle in the forefront of his mind as the public will often look at context when determining what’s right and what’s wrong in a given situation. If Novo Nordisk has adhered to the previous principles of respect for human values, and result for local traditions, then it will be fairly simple for the public to draw the conclusion that the company was acting in an ethical matter. However, should it be uncovered that human values were not respected as patients in a clinical trial in an undeveloped country had no need for the medicine that Novo Nordisk was testing on them, then the public could conclude that Novo Nordisk was only conducting trials in that country for financial gain.

Ultimately, there’s a real risk for Dejaard to respond to the media’s inquiry as Novo Nordisk has set high expectations for how it conducts its clinical trials by being transparent and posting the information publically on it’s website. However, the downfall for the company could be extreme if it is found out that local managers have not been acting according to the policies and procedures set forth by the company. To that end, Novo Nordisk must be able to communicate its values to the media, as well as the procedures in place to ensure that the company lives into those values. Lastly, the company needs to be able to provide examples where those values have been in action in order to create stories of success. Granted, it’ll be the media’s job to find cases where the values were not successful, however, as long as Novo Nordisk can prove that its intentions were to act in the best interest of the undeveloped country and it’s respective people, laws, and regulations then the public perception will be that the company did it’s due diligence in terms of performing its clinical trials in an ethical manner.

References

Meyer, K. (2009). Ethics of Offshoring: Novo Nordisk and Clinical Trials in Emerging Economies. Richard Ivey School of Business. Retrieved from: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/content/56713173