Pfizer accused of 'bringing discredit' on pharmaceutical industry and promoting an 'unlicensed' Covid vaccine

The ruling, by the pharmaceutical watchdog Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), relates to a retweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, by one of Pfizer's senior employees in November 2020.

The retweet came under the jurisdiction of the PMCPA after a member of the public filed a series of complaints.

The complainant stated that they had written to the PMCPA on numerous occasions to complain about "Pfizer’s misuse of social media to misleadingly and illegally promote their covid vaccine".

The complainant stated that in some previous cases Pfizer had attempted to defend or mitigate their offences by "reference to their desire to maintain high standards and also citing the various processes, procedures and training they had in place to prevent such occurrences".

However, the complainant alleged that it turned out that such misbehaviour was even more "widespread than they had thought" and that it "extended right to the top of their UK operation and was apparently continuing to this very day".

The ruling relates to a retweet by one of its senior UK employees.

They shared a post from another employee of Pfizer in the US which said: “Our vaccine candidate is 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19, and 94 per cent effective in people over 65 years old. We will file all of our data with health authorities within days. Thank you to every volunteer in our trial, and to all who are tirelessly fighting this pandemic.”

Four other Pfizer UK employees, including one “senior” colleague, retweeted the same message.

The PMCPA ruling noted that the tweet contained "limited information" regarding the efficacy of the vaccine candidate with no safety information provided.

It went on to say that the social media post resulted in an “unlicensed medicine being proactively disseminated on Twitter to health professions and members of the public in the UK”.

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The Panel concluded that the "Pfizer UK employees, including two senior employees, retweeting on their personal Twitter accounts about the company’s COVID-19 potential vaccine prior to the grant of its marketing authorisation, meant that Pfizer had brought discredit upon and reduced confidence in the pharmaceutical industry".

A Pfizer UK spokesman said that the company “fully recognises and accepts the issues highlighted by this PMCPA ruling”, adding that it is “deeply sorry”.

They said: “Pfizer UK has a comprehensive policy on personal use of social media in relation to Pfizer’s business which prohibits colleagues from interacting with any social media related to Pfizer’s medicines and vaccines – backed by staff briefings and training.

“The personal use of social media by UK pharmaceutical industry employees in relation to company business is a challenging area for pharmaceutical companies, in which we continue to take all of the appropriate steps that are reasonably expected of a pharmaceutical company.”

As part of their response to the ruling, Pfizer said it had launched a review into its employees’ use of social media platforms to ensure compliance with their own rules as well as the regulatory code.

This is the sixth time Pfizer has received a telling off from the UK drug regulator over its actions.

The PMCPA ruled in November 2022 that the company's chief executive had made "misleading” statements on children’s vaccines.

Following a complaint submitted by campaign group UsForThem, The PMCPA ruled that Pfizer had breached the code in a number of different ways, such as misleading the public, making unsubstantiated claims and not presenting information in a factual and balanced manner.

In response to the latest breach, Ben Kingsley, the head of legal affairs at UsForThem, said: “It’s astonishing how many times Pfizer’s senior executives have been found guilty of serious regulatory offences – in this case including the most serious offence of all under the UK Code of Practice.

“Yet the consequences for Pfizer and the individuals concerned continue to be derisory. This hopeless system of regulation for a multi-billion dollar life and death industry has become a sham, in dire need of reform.”

David Watson of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said that the code of practice, which is overseen by the PMCPA, sets “high standards for companies that reflect and go beyond UK law”.

He added that cases that are found to have brought discredit on the industry are advertised in the medical, pharmaceutical, and nursing press.