Moderna is facing suspension in the UK over a series of Covid vaccine breaches including offering thousands of pounds and teddy bears to children to take part in risky trials and get vaccinated without parental consent.

The Big Pharma giant is due to be audited by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) over “unacceptable” practices that “brought discredit upon the industry.”

If found to be in breach of the code, Moderna could be suspended or expelled from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (APBI).

It follows several code breaches, including representatives of the company offering children £1,500 and teddy bears to take part in Covid vaccine trials.

In a new ruling, which is expected to be announced in the coming days, the company was also found to have misled regulators about when it first became aware of the financial incentives to children to take part in experimental vaccine trials.

Children were given prizes including certificates, teddy bears and even cash rewards for taking part in the illegal trials

Telegraph report: Moderna claimed it had taken action as soon as it was notified about the cash offer by the Health Research Agency in January 2024, but it has now emerged that senior executives were informed in August 2023 by the campaign group UsForThem, yet failed to take action.

Under the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) regulations, it is prohibited for incentives or financial inducements to be given to children or their parents.

The PMCPA ruled the company had shown a lack of transparency that was “completely unacceptable” and brought discredit upon the industry.

A senior employee was also found to have co-authored three articles, including one with Nadhim Zahawi, the former vaccines minister, which promoted Moderna’s Covid vaccine without disclosing he worked for the company. He also sent promotional tweets from a personal account without revealing his role.

The PMCPA said the article and tweets amounted to advertising the vaccine, and viewed the failure to inform readers of links to Moderna as unacceptable.

Molly Kingsley, the founder of UsForThem, said: “Many of the previous judgments against Moderna have revealed how readily it put profit ahead of the health and safety of children.

“Now it has also laid bare just how little regard it has had for the regulatory system that was supposed to keep it honest.

“Never before has a company so new to the pharmaceutical industry been rebuked in this way.”

In two new rulings, Moderna was found to have made ten new breaches of the code. UsforThem said it was particularly worrying as they related to three senior executives at the company.

The PMCPA said that an audit was now necessary to look at whether Moderna’s culture, governance and framework were operating effectively, and said the Appeal Board would then consider whether further sanctions were needed after auditors had reported back.