Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, The New York Times today reveals a restrictive agreement in place since 2006 between the Richmond tobacco company Philip Morris and Richmond’s public university, Virginia Commonwealth. In exchange for undisclosed millions of dollars from Philip Morris for tobacco research, VCU agreed not to publish or even discuss research without the company’s approval, according to the Times. In addition, nearly all patents would belong to Philip Morris, not VCU—a direct violation of the university’s own policies.
“In the end, it was language we thought we could agree to,” Francis L. Macrina, Virginia Commonwealth’s vice president for research, told the Times. “It’s a balancing act.”
Last year, UVA received $25 million from Philip Morris. Rick Solana, Philip Morris’ senior vice president for research and technology, told the Times that the company had arrangements with other universities that are similar to the one with VCU, but he wouldn’t name names.
University spokesperson Carol Wood says that UVA isn’t one of those universities.
“Our agreement strongly encourages the University of Virginia to publish the results of research before sharing the results with Philip Morris,” she says. The agreement does stipulate that UVA attribute the funding source for its research.
Wood says that she was contacted by The New York Times prior to the story’s publication and walked the reporter through UVA’s agreement with Philip Morris. UVA wasn’t mentioned in the story.—with additional reporting by Scott Weaver
