Company targeted 12 to 18 year-olds through WhatsApp with payments of Β£1,500
Moderna has been rebuked by regulators after offering children cash to test the Covid vaccine.
The pharmaceutical company was ordered to pay Β£14,000 after it emerged that a representative had sent a WhatsApp message offering Β£1,500 to children to take part in Covid booster trials.
The UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) ruled that the offer amounted to βinappropriate financial inducementβ and found the company had brought βdiscredit upon the pharmaceutical industryβ.
The offer was made by a paediatrician from an unnamed NHS trust, inviting those aged between 12 and 18 years old to enrol in the NextCove trial, which was examining the efficacy of Modernaβs booster jab.
The inducement was made even though a research ethics committee had warned about the βlarge amount of moneyβ that Moderna was offering participants, and voiced concern it was βmuch higher than would be considered a reasonable reimbursementβ.
It is time for real transparency in clinical research.Β
The PMCPA ruling against Moderna is another reminder of an all-powerful pharmaceutical industry, able to breach the rules without fear of meaningful or timely repercussions.
