Spain's National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) is reviewing whether scientist Mariano Barbacid violated its code of good practices by failing to disclose a conflict of interest in an article retracted by the US National Academy of Sciences. The paper, on a pancreatic cancer therapy tested in mice, was withdrawn because the authors did not declare their shares in Vega Oncotargets, the company set to commercialize the patent. Despite knowing since March, Barbacid did not inform the Cris Cancer Foundation, which raised 3.6 million euros in donations.
Spain's National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), a flagship oncology research institution, is reviewing the case of star scientist Mariano Barbacid, its scientific director until 2011, after the retraction of an article from the US National Academy of Sciences' PNAS journal.
The authors, Barbacid, Carmen Guerra, and Vasiliki Liaki, failed to disclose their shares in Vega Oncotargets, founded in April 2024 to develop a patent for an experimental therapy that cured pancreatic cancer in 45 mice. A PNAS letter dated March 12 notified Barbacid of the conflict, yet the Cris Cancer Foundation's fundraising campaign continued until Tuesday, raising 3.685 million euros without mentioning the private firm.
The CNIO's code of good practices, Article 5.2, requires declaring actual or potential conflicts of interest before publications. Centre sources say they are considering measures. Co-author Carmen Guerra called it an "administrative problem" and stated the scientific content remains valid; they have resubmitted the study.
The episode overlaps with an Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office probe into an alleged 25-30 million euro embezzlement at CNIO, implicating former manager Juan Arroyo, whom Barbacid has defended. Vega Oncotargets faces financial woes and could close without funding.
