Journalist v Novartis: Daily Mail article alleged to promote Xolair via third-party links (No breach)

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Key facts

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Case number	AUTH/2578/2/13
Complainant	Journalist
Company	Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd
Medicine	Xolair (omalizumab)
Issue	Alleged covert promotion to the public via a Daily Mail Online article and associated third-party links
Article	“Don’t scrap asthma jab that saved my son’s life” (Daily Mail Online, 11 February 2013)
Company material assessed	Novartis press release dated 9 November 2012 about NICE draft decision on omalizumab (Xolair)
Complaint received	14 February 2013
Case completed	26 March 2013
Applicable Code year	2012
Clauses considered	2, 9.1, 22.1 and 22.2
Outcome	No breach
Appeal	No appeal

Reviewed by Dr Anzal Qurbain (FFPM) — ABPI Final Signatory

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A journalist complained that a Daily Mail Online article (“Don’t scrap asthma jab that saved my son’s life”, published 11 February 2013) was thinly veiled promotion of Xolair (omalizumab), a prescription-only medicine marketed by Novartis.
The complainant noted Novartis was not named in the article, but people quoted had connections to Novartis (a respiratory consultant who had attended Novartis advisory boards; Asthma UK, which had received Novartis funding of around £45,000 in 2011).
The article included a pack shot of Xolair; the complainant suggested such imagery would typically come from a pharmaceutical company and require sign-off.
PMCPA assessed the company material that might have prompted the article (not the article itself), focusing on a Novartis press release dated 9 November 2012 about a NICE draft decision to revoke positive guidance for Xolair in patients aged 12+.
Novartis stated it was not involved in generating the article; neither it nor its PR agency engaged with the author; it had no knowledge of the case study used.
Novartis said the pack shot in the article was not a UK pack and was found on an independent industry website; it was not provided by Novartis UK or Novartis Switzerland.

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No breach of the Code was ruled.
The Panel found the press release did not appear to have influenced the Daily Mail article and did not promote Xolair to the public.
The Panel considered high standards had been maintained.

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