Moderna risks UK suspension over cash and toys offered to kids - media

A British watchdog has criticized the biotech firm over recruitment practices involving children in coronavirus booster studies

US ’big pharma’ company Moderna could be suspended or expelled from a UK trade body after breaches of industry rules, including offering children cash and teddy bears to take part in Covid vaccine trials, The Telegraph reported. 

Moderna, which joined the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) in 2023, now faces an audit that could result in its suspension or expulsion. A new ruling is expected to be published in the coming days, according to The Telegraph. If sanctioned, it would become the tenth firm to face suspension from the ABPI in the past 40 years, the newspaper wrote.

The UK’s drug watchdog, the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), said Moderna’s lack of transparency was "unacceptable" and damaged the industry’s reputation.

In October 2024, Moderna was fined £14,000 ($17,850) after a WhatsApp message offered £1,500 ($1,872) to minors to join the NextCOVE Covid booster trial. Although the company later reduced the payment to £185 ($231), at least one site continued promoting the original offer. The PMCPA said the payment was “much higher than would be considered a reasonable reimbursement” and ruled that it discredited the pharmaceutical industry.

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In a separate case, Moderna was fined nearly £44,000 ($56,000) after Britain’s pharmaceutical watchdog found it had damaged the industry’s reputation. In 2023, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust published adverts aimed at children aged 12 and over, offering “a lovely certificate and a ‘be part of the research’ teddy bear.” Two online articles also promoted recruitment.

A senior Moderna employee co-authored promotional articles, including one with former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, without disclosing his affiliation, the Telegraph reported. The employee also sent promotional tweets without revealing his role.

The PMCPA said Moderna “misled regulators” about when it learned of the breaches. While the company claimed it acted promptly after being informed in January 2024, evidence showed executives had been alerted by UsForThem in August 2023.

The findings showed “how readily [Moderna] put profit ahead of the health and safety of children” and “laid bare just how little regard it has had for the regulatory system that was supposed to keep it honest,” Molly Kingsley, founder of UsForThem, told the newspaper.

COVID-19 vaccines, including Moderna’s Spikevax, may lead to side effects in minors, such as pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, fever, and, in rare cases, myocarditis or pericarditis, according to health authorities.