Political economy of the UK pharmaceutical industry in an age of uncertainty and volatility
This Fellowship will develop a research proposal for a future large-scale study examining the societal impact of new weight-loss medications and the growing pharmaceuticalisation of human health conditions. With obesity affecting 64% of adults in England, a new generation of drugs is transforming treatment approaches and attracting significant public and commercial attention. While these medications are often framed as medical breakthroughs, their rapid adoption raises important questions about who benefits most – patients, healthcare systems, or pharmaceutical companies.
The project will investigate how weight-loss drugs are promoted and integrated into a highly commercialised healthcare environment, where sophisticated marketing practices, digital prescribing platforms, and influencer advertising are evolving faster than existing regulatory systems. Moving beyond clinical effectiveness, the research will explore the broader social, political, and ethical implications of these medicines, including their influence on public health priorities, patient narratives, and trust in healthcare. Particular attention will be given to debates around the commercialisation and potential “Americanisation” of UK healthcare, as well as the risks of reinforcing weight stigma and widening health inequalities through individualised medical solutions.
Building on my doctoral research, the Fellowship will also examine the role of patient advocacy organisations. Using a unique longitudinal dataset of pharmaceutical industry payments to UK patient groups developed during my PhD, the project will analyse how financial relationships shape advocacy activities, discourse, and policy engagement, particularly surrounding major obesity drug launches. This work will provide new insight into how industry funding may both enable and constrain patient representation and influence health policy agendas.
During the Fellowship, I will also prioritise public and policy engagement, including through engaging with journalists, civil servants, and policymakers.
Publications
- Ozieranski, P., Rickard, E. and Mulinari, S. 2025. Unknowns of drug company payment disclosure: why the UK needs payment transparency legislation. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
- Larkin, J., Matthes, B., Azribi, M., Kearns, C., Mulinari, S., Rickard, E., Moriarty, F., Fahey, T. and Ozieranski, P. 2024. Drug company methodologies used for reporting in the UK pharmaceutical industry payment transparency database between 2015 and 2019: A content analysis, Health Policy, 149, 105155.
- Rickard, E., Carmel, E., and Ozieranski, P., 2023. Comparing pharmaceutical company payments in the four UK countries: a cross-sectional and social network analysis. BMJ Open, 13:e061591.
- Ozieranski, P., Saito, H., Rickard, E., Mulinari, S. and Ozaki, A., 2023. International comparison of pharmaceutical industry payment disclosures in the UK and Japan: implications for self-regulation, public regulation, and transparency. Global Health; 19(14).
- Ozieranski, P., Pitter, J., Rickard, E., Mulinari, S., & Csanadi, M., 2022. A ‘patient–industry complex’: Investigating the financial dependency of UK patient organisations on drug company funding. Sociology of Health & Illness; 44: 188–210.
- Rickard, E. and Ozieranski, P., 2021. A hidden web of policy influence: The pharmaceutical industry’s engagement with UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Groups. PLOS ONE, 16(6): e0252551.
- Ozieranski, P., Csanádi, M., Rickard, E. et al., 2020, Under-reported relationship: a comparative study of pharmaceutical industry and patient organisation payment disclosures in the UK (2012–2016). BMJ Open; 10:e037351.
- Mulinari, S., Vilhelmsson, A., Rickard, E., and Ozieranski, P., 2020. Five years of pharmaceutical industry funding of patient organisations in Sweden: Cross-sectional study of companies, patient organisations and drugs. PLOS ONE; 15(6): e0235021.
- Rickard, E., Ozieranski, P. and Mulinari, S., 2019. Evaluating the transparency of pharmaceutical company disclosure of payments to patient organisations in the UK. Health Policy, 123(12), pp.1244-1250.
- Ozieranski, P., Csanádi, M., Rickard, E., Tchilingirian, J., and Mulinari, S. 2019. Analysis of pharmaceutical industry payments to UK health care organisations in 2015. JAMA Netw Open; 2(6):e196253. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6253.
- Ozieranski, P., Rickard, E., and Mulinari, S., 2019. Exposing drug industry funding of UK patient organisations. BMJ; 365, l1806.
Recent media commentary
Since commencing my Fellowship I have provided expert commentary about illicit marketing of weight loss drugs covered by the Guardian (Nov 2025, Jan 2026, Feb 2026) and LBC (Nov 2025).
Mentor
Dr Piotr Ozieranski and Professor Kari Lancaster
Email: ejr29@bath.ac.uk