Independent Medical Education

Genentech/Roche supports grants for independent medical education in an effort to further the advance of medicine and healthcare by improving the knowledge of the medical community.

Independent Medical Education (IME) is generally defined as education for healthcare professionals (HCPs) provided by an independent educational provider, such as a community hospital, academic center, society/association or medical education & communication company.

• Funding Priorities

  Grant requests must identify unmet educational needs of a target audience and demonstrate how the program will address the unmet educational needs, and encourage the improvement of medicine and healthcare. The selection of medium and format should be commensurate with the educational needs, the audience, learning preferences, geography, content, and other factors that contribute to educational effectiveness.

  Responsibility and control over the selection, content, faculty, educational methods, materials, and venue for an independent medical education event belongs solely to the organizers of the event. Genentech/Roche will not provide any advice or guidance to the independent medical education provider (even if asked) regarding the content or faculty for any program that has received funding.

• How to Apply

  Grant requests must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the project/program start date. The following documents are required to submit your application:

  • W-9 Form / W-8BEN Form
  • Meeting agenda
  • Needs assessment document
  • Implementation plan
  • Program’s total budget (not for only the amount being requested from Genentech)

  Funding Request System Resources

  • New User Registration Tip Sheet
  • IME Funding Request Tip Sheet

  Learn more about the funding request process.

• Funding Requirements

  The funding must be consistent with a Genentech or Roche therapeutic area. See the list of supported therapeutic areas.

• Firewall Requirements

  Organizations which also perform promotional activities must have sufficient separation (firewalls) between the grant requestor's or partner's promotional and medical education business units.

  Learn more about Genentech's firewall requirements.

• Funding Restrictions
  
  

  • Requests for funding an ACCME accredited program must be submitted by the organization accrediting the activity (the accredited provider) regardless of the dollar amount requested
  • Requests for funding other accredited programs (i.e., pharmacy, nursing, AAFP) must be submitted by the organization that is responsible for development of the program’s content

  Your organization must not be:

  • A political or sectarian organization
  • An individual, group practice, or private physician office

  If your organization is an accredited provider but you will be utilizing a non-accredited third party implementation provider to implement the proposed activity:

  • The third-party implementation provider must not be owned in whole or in part by, or controlled by a practicing physician or other HCP, or a group practice of physicians or other HCPs (regardless of size)
  • The third-party implementation provider must not be owned in whole or in part by, or controlled by, an individual who is an immediate family member of a practicing physician or other HCP

  In order to be eligible the funding must not be used for:

  • The purpose of developing clinical practice guidelines, e.g., statements that include recommendations intended to help practitioners make appropriate health care decisions for specific clinical conditions
  • Support a religious purpose
  • Promotion of a Genentech or Roche product or to influence formulary decisions
  • Travel, lodging or registration expenses for non-faculty healthcare professionals to attend an educational program (there are certain exceptions for healthcare professionals in training: i.e. medical students, fellows, etc. to attend major medical society meetings)
  • Operating expenses that are not directly and exclusively dedicated to the educational activity being applied for (e.g. equipment, salaries, benefits, journal subscriptions, etc.)
  • Support a promotional exhibit or display space/fees (please contact your local Genentech representative regarding requests for exhibit fees)
  • Stand-alone entertainment or social events
  • Staff/professional development
  • Advertising space
  • Grant requests from applicants who have received past grant funding, but have not provided required reconciliation information or have not returned unused funds
  • Grant requests for programs that take place in a location, venue or in a schedule that detracts from the educational activity as the primary purpose
  • Grant requests that contain unacceptable budget line items, such as:
    
    
    • Funding for healthcare professional partners or guests
    • Faculty lodging and/or expense reimbursement out of proportion with the number of days that the faculty is presenting
    • Gifts/prizes for faculty or attendees
    • Requests for food only
    • Funding for faculty dinners not related to content review
    • Honoraria or costs in excess of fair market value

Decision Making

Call for Grant Notifications (CGNs) have specified deadlines for application submission and will be posted on this website periodically throughout the year. For other funding requests, Genentech has a rolling review policy when evaluating funding requests for independent medical education, which means that we do not have a specific deadline for which funding requests must be received. This allows qualified requestors the opportunity to apply anytime during year. We do, however, recommend that you submit your request as early as possible. To ensure adequate opportunity for review, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. You will usually hear back from Genentech within 4 to 8 weeks of application.

Letter of Agreement (LOA)

All grants must abide by the terms in the Genentech Letter of Agreement (LOA), which is issued to an authorized signer of your organization once the application is approved. You must agree to the terms of the LOA before any funding is issued. If you have any questions on the agreement terms, please contact us at (877) 313-5778.

Post Payment Actions

• You will have the opportunity to provide a project status update and program outcomes throughout the course of the program development and implementation. This can be accessed on the homepage of the grant management application system after you log in.
• When your project end date has passed, you will receive an email requesting that you reconcile your projected budget with actual expenditures. You must supply reconciliation information within 90 days of the request.

• References

  Office of Inspector General (OIG) Guidelines
  Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Commercial Support
  Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals
  American Medical Association (AMA) Ethical Guidelines for Gifts to Physicians From Industry
  FDA Guidance on Industry-Supported Scientific and Educational Activities