AUTH/3790/7/23: Ex-employee v Moderna (preprint data in presentations)

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Key facts

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Case number	AUTH/3790/7/23
Complainant	Anonymous, non-contactable; described themselves as a health professional and ex-employee
Company	Moderna
Issue	Alleged misleading use of preprint data (Puranik et al. 2021) in presentations; alleged cherry picking; alleged intent to influence UK contract sales via JCVI
Medicinal product	Spikevax (referenced via SPC provided)
Applicable Code year	2021
Complaint received	4 July 2023
Case completed	31 October 2024
Appeal	No appeal
Outcome	No breach of Clauses 5.1, 6.1 (x3), 6.2, 6.3; Clause 8.1 not applicable/no ruling
Sanctions	None

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

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An anonymous, non-contactable complainant (self-described health professional and ex-employee/contractor) alleged Moderna used scientific data from a preprint (Puranik et al. 2021) in a misleading way.
Allegations included: removing “central data” from graphs to imply superior vaccine effectiveness versus a competitor; using non-peer-reviewed data; presenting the data to the UK JCVI to gain more UK contract sales; and “cherry picking” in a presentation to a group of Spanish organisations.
Moderna said the Spanish-organisation presentation (dated 7 October 2021; originally planned 27 September 2021) and JCVI presentations occurred in 2021/2022, before Moderna UK joined the ABPI (January 2023).
Moderna provided JCVI slide decks (including one dated 7 September 2021) and stated the slides clearly indicated peer review was pending for the preprint data.
The Panel assessed jurisdiction case-by-case and considered the complaint in the usual way given the subject matter could broadly relate to misleading promotion/legal requirements.

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No breach of Clause 5.1.
No breach of Clause 6.1 (x3).
No breach of Clause 6.2.
No breach of Clause 6.3.
Clause 8.1: Panel concluded certification requirements were not applicable to Moderna prior to joining ABPI (January 2023) and made no ruling.

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Clause 5.1 Requirement to maintain high standards at all times
Clause 6.1 (x3) Requirement that information must be accurate, up-to-date and not misleading
Clause 6.2 Requirement that information must be capable of substantiation
Clause 6.3 Requirement that all artwork must conform to the letter and spirt of the Code

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