Moderna is facing suspension from Britain’s pharmaceutical trade association for a string of breaches relating to its covid vaccines

Moderna, the Covid vaccine maker, is facing potential suspension from Britain’s pharmaceutical trade body, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (“APBI”), due to a string of breaches of the regulatory code, which have brought discredit upon the industry, The Telegraph reported yesterday.

Moderna is set to be audited by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (“PMCPA”) to assess its compliance systems, and if found to be lacking, Moderna could ultimately be suspended or expelled from the APBI, a measure that has only been taken nine times in the past 40 years.

The breaches include representatives of the company offering children £1,500 and teddy bears to take part in covid vaccine trials, which is prohibited under the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) regulations, as well as misleading regulators about when it first became aware of the financial incentives to children.

Moderna was also found to have failed to disclose a senior employee’s links to the company in articles and tweets promoting its covid injection.  “A senior employee was [ ] found to have co-authored three articles, including one with Nadhim Zahawi, the former vaccines minister, which promoted Moderna’s covid vaccine without disclosing he worked for the company. He also sent promotional tweets from a personal account without revealing his role,” The Telegraph said.  This amounted to advertising the vaccine and was viewed as unacceptable by the PMCPA.

The PMCPA has ruled that Moderna has shown a lack of transparency and has made ten new breaches of the code.  However, as Esther McVey MP has stated, the regulator has no real power to impose appropriate fines or other meaningful penalties, which has led to a lack of public trust in the pharmaceutical industry and its regulators.

Related: Covid vaccines: Pharmaceutical companies violated the UK code of practice on 53 occasions

Molly Kingsley, the founder of UsForThem, has expressed concern over Moderna’s disregard for the regulatory system and its prioritisation of profit over health and safety.

The APBI has the power to suspend or expel Moderna, which would be a significant blow to the company, and the PMCPA’s audit and potential sanctions will be closely watched, with the outcome expected to have significant implications for Moderna’s reputation and operations.

Read the full article HERE.

Featured image: Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel. Source: Nikkei Asia