The BMJ retracts stem cell trial amid ongoing data integrity and reliability concerns

The BMJ retracts stem cell trial amid ongoing data integrity and reliability concerns

The BMJ has retracted a clinical trial published on 29 October 2025: Prevention of acute myocardial infarction induced heart failure by intracoronary infusion of mesenchymal stem cells: phase 3 randomised clinical trial (PREVENT-TAHA8).

The decision follows an investigation by BMJ Group’s content integrity team after a variety of issues were raised after publication. An expression of concern was placed on the study on 12 November 2025.

The issues raised included concerns about the reliability of the trial and the integrity of the reported data, such as inclusion of participants who did not meet the specified age criteria, a discrepancy in the reported number of enrolled participants, and a mismatch between the trial protocol and the published paper. 

The corresponding author and the regulator have not been able to satisfactorily address these concerns, leading to the decision to retract.

The content integrity team is in contact with the trial regulator, requesting an investigation into these matters that are outside its scope as the publisher, and is awaiting a response. 

The journal also reviewed other issues, such as the trial’s registration status, incorrectly declared conflicts of interest, and inaccurate authorship. The author list has since been corrected, which has also resolved the conflicts of interest issue. Whether the trial was registered prospectively, as required, or retrospectively remains under investigation.

The team will inform all authors’ institutions and the trial sponsor of the retraction so they can carry out their own independent investigations.

Dr Helen Macdonald, publication ethics and content integrity editor, said: “The BMJ is currently piloting new procedures to better identify data-related issues prior to publication. In this case, readers were able to identify concerns because the data were publicly available in an open access repository, in line with our data-sharing policy.”

The full retraction notice is available here. Reporters are advised not to cite this retracted research in any future work.

 31/03/2026