Annual Meeting Embargo Policy
The media as well as corporations and institutions issuing press releases are required to abide by the embargo policies governing the Society's annual meeting.
The information contained in all abstracts selected for plenary, oral, and poster presentations at the 2023 ASH annual meeting is embargoed until abstracts are posted online on Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time (late-breaking abstracts are embargoed until they are posted online on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time). At these times, the embargo will lift on the data within the abstract, including the abstract title, presentation time and date, and study authors.
Information that goes beyond that which is contained within the “four corners” of the abstract as posted online on Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time or Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time for late-breaking abstracts (e.g., additional analysis, commentary, or updated information from those individuals and companies involved in the study) is embargoed according to the following criteria:
- For oral presentations: The embargo lifts at the start time of the session in which the presentation is being made, or the beginning of the ASH press briefing containing the research (unless otherwise stated in a press briefing). For example, if an abstract is not in a press briefing and the session starts on Saturday, December 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, the embargo would lift on Saturday, December 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time.
- For poster presentations: The embargo lifts when the poster session containing the poster opens for viewing in the morning (i.e., when the poster hall opens that day), or at the beginning of the ASH press briefing containing the research, unless otherwise stated in the press briefing. For example, if a poster is not in a press briefing and is included in the Saturday, December 9, poster session, the embargo would lift on Saturday, December 9, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time when the poster hall opens.
- For online-only abstracts: The embargo lifts when the abstract is first made publicly available online the week of the annual meeting. These abstracts are not presented at the annual meeting.
Exception to Embargo Policy - SEC Regulations
In certain situations, a publicly traded company must legally disclose certain data from the abstract to the public prior to ASH embargo in order to comply with requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or a corresponding regulatory body in the country where the company's stock is traded. Under such extenuating circumstances, ASH may grant an exception to its embargo rules and allow the company to release limited top-line data (i.e., general findings with no additional analysis, commentary, investigator quotes, etc.) from the abstract without jeopardizing its eligibility for presentation at the annual meeting.
For any other ASH meeting that accepts abstracts, please follow the meeting’s stated embargo policies, and then use the process outlined here for SEC exception requests.
To request an exception to the ASH embargo policy for an accepted abstract, the following should be sent to ASH Communications Manager Melissa McGue at [email protected] with a copy to the corresponding author of the abstract:
- detailed information about the release, including the nature of the data to be included and timing of the release; and
- a letter signed by legal counsel (see sample letter) advising that disclosure of the information is necessary to comply with applicable securities laws and that the information contained within is only the minimum necessary to ensure such compliance.
If the request is made before the abstract has been accepted for presentation, the above information must be emailed to [email protected] and Melissa McGue should be copied.
The press release (see sample press release) should note that the abstract has been submitted (or accepted, if appropriate) for presentation at the ASH annual meeting. ASH will evaluate these requests on a case-by-case basis and reserves the right to change the type of presentation (e.g., from oral to poster) or remove the abstract from the annual meeting program if the released information is judged to substantially detract from the novelty of the annual meeting presentation.