Medical Congress PR: 6 Steps From Abstract to Embargo
By Kyle Porter, Executive Vice President & Managing Director.
Updated November 12, 2026
Medical congress PR is the communications work around a scientific meeting presentation: protecting an abstract before it is released, timing announcements to the meeting's embargo, and keeping every statement within FDA promotion and investor disclosure rules. The six steps below follow ASCO's 2024 public relations policy as a worked example, since each congress sets its own embargo rules.
Last updated: November 12, 2026
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What does medical congress PR cover?
Medical congress PR covers every public statement a company makes about data it will present, or has presented, at a scientific meeting. That scope includes acceptance announcements, embargoed press releases, social media posts, booth and poster messaging, investor communications and spokesperson interviews.
The work is time-bound in a way most public relations is not. ASCO's 2024 public relations page lists abstract titles released on April 24, 2024, regular abstracts released at 5:00 PM ET on May 23, 2024, and the annual meeting itself from May 31 to June 4, 2024. A company that misses one of those marks can lose control of its own news.
Three audiences read the same material: journalists on embargo, investors who trade on the data, and regulators who evaluate promotional claims. The steps below keep one set of facts consistent across all three groups. The ASCO details come from its corporate and institutional public relations policies, which each company should verify for the current year before planning begins.
What are the six steps at a glance?
The six steps of medical congress PR run in the order a company encounters them, from abstract submission to spokesperson briefings.
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Treat the abstract and its data as confidential from the day it is submitted.
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Build the embargo calendar backward from the release time of the abstract.
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Match each press release to what the meeting allows at that moment.
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Coordinate the embargo with securities counsel and investor disclosure.
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Keep poster, booth and release wording inside FDA promotion rules.
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Brief spokespeople on the approved wording and the embargo times.
Step 1: What Does Abstract Confidentiality Require?
Abstract confidentiality requires that an abstract and its study data remain private and undiscussed publicly until the scientific meeting officially releases them. Under ASCO's 2024 policy, once an abstract is submitted, the abstract and the study data to be presented are confidential. For late-breaking placeholders, the policy does not apply until the study data is submitted.
ASCO's policy also establishes that the contents and conclusions of an abstract must not be presented at, or published in connection with, another scientific, medical or educational meeting before ASCO releases it. Preprints, which are non-peer-reviewed drafts posted online, are permitted before the abstract is submitted.
The practical task is an internal communications audit on submission day. The team checks the corporate website, the investor presentation deck, the conference calendar page and scheduled social posts for wording that previews study data. Any material that reveals findings is pulled or rewritten until the embargo lifts.
Step 2: What Does the Embargo Calendar Look Like?
An embargo calendar is a dated schedule of the moments when abstract information may become public, built backward from the official release time. ASCO's 2024 policy set two distinct release times for its Annual Meeting.
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Regular abstracts, including Publish Only abstracts, were released at 5:00 PM ET on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
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Late-breaking abstracts, including plenary abstracts, were released at 7:00 AM CT, or 8:00 AM ET, on the day of the scientific session containing the presentation.
The consequence of missing these deadlines is stated in the policy. If study results are reported before the embargo without first receiving a formal exception, the abstract may be removed from the meeting. For a company whose financing milestones depend on an oral presentation slot, that removal is the exact risk the calendar is built to avoid.
Step 3: Which Press Releases Can Go Out, and When?
A company can issue three distinct press releases around a congress abstract, each governed by different timing limits under meeting policy. ASCO's 2024 policy outlines specific rules for each release format.
The first is the acceptance announcement. Once an abstract is accepted, a company may publicize that acceptance, but it cannot share the abstract title or session information until ASCO publishes it. No data or study results may appear in an acceptance announcement.
The second format is the embargoed release, which may contain full information, including updated data, provided it follows the embargo policy. ASCO asks that the release prominently show the abstract number alongside the embargo date and time at the top. Advance outreach must be limited to individual contact with trusted reporters within 24 to 48 hours of the embargo lift. ASCO strongly advises against using a commercial distribution service for embargoed releases and states that any wire distribution is at the issuing organization's risk.
The third format is the public release. After ASCO publicly releases the abstract and the embargo lifts, a company may widely distribute a press release containing full data, including additional findings to be presented that do not appear in the abstract itself.
Step 4: How Do Investor Disclosure Rules Fit the Embargo?
Investor disclosure rules operate independently from a medical congress embargo, meaning an embargo release time does not determine when a public company must legally disclose material data to investors. A release schedule that satisfies congress organizers can still breach securities disclosure rules.
Regulation FD requires a public company that gives material nonpublic information to market professionals, such as analysts and institutional investors, to make it public simultaneously. Whether abstract data is material, and whether a Form 8-K filing is triggered, is a decision for securities counsel. The executive team must settle disclosure requirements before the embargo date rather than reacting on the day of release.
The communications team must also audit any analyst or investor calls scheduled in the days leading up to the abstract release. A call that touches on clinical findings before the public release often breaks both congress embargoes and securities rules at once. The guide to FDA communications PR covers Regulation FD and Form 8-K timing in greater detail.
Step 5: How Do FDA Promotion Rules Apply at the Meeting?
FDA promotion rules apply to poster text, booth displays and press materials at a medical congress in the same way they apply to corporate websites. For an investigational drug, 21 CFR 312.7(a) prohibits representing in a promotional context that the product is safe or effective for the use under study, while permitting the scientific exchange of findings.
The congress environment adds meeting-specific restrictions. ASCO's Virtual Press Room accepts only releases that relate directly to meeting abstracts, while barring press kits, corporate reports and promotional marketing materials. ASCO also notes that it does not endorse corporate releases and displays them solely as third-party literature.
Social media communications must comply with the same standards. ASCO's policy permits organizations to post about their abstracts provided every update respects the embargo schedule. A scheduled social post that publishes ten minutes early constitutes an embargo violation, which requires social media calendars to be tied directly into the master embargo plan.
Step 6: How Should Spokespeople Prepare for a Congress?
Spokespeople should prepare for a medical congress by mastering three core areas: the exact embargo times, the approved scientific description of the data, and the specific questions they will decline to answer. Preparation also covers event logistics, including ASCO's requirement that organizations hosting media briefings around the meeting coordinate directly with society staff.
A one-page message document keeps spokesperson interviews aligned with public releases. This document contains the approved efficacy and safety wording, the product's current regulatory status, all previously disclosed development milestones, and specific promotional phrases to avoid.
Structured rehearsals ensure leaders handle unapproved topics cleanly. The guide to executive media interview preparation covers rehearsal methods in detail, and the clinical-stage biotech PR rules explain how to address trial endpoints that fall short of expectations.
What Should a Congress Communications Timeline Include?
A congress communications timeline lists each milestone, what the company may communicate at that point, and the required internal sign-offs. The table below provides a planning structure based on ASCO's 2024 policy.
MilestoneWhat the company may communicateSign-off
Abstract submittedNothing about the abstract or its dataMedical, legal Abstract acceptedThe fact of acceptance, with no data, and no title or session details until the meeting releases themRegulatory, legal 24 to 48 hours before embargo liftIndividual embargoed outreach to the most trusted reportersMedical, legal, investor relations Embargo liftsFull release with data, abstract number and embargo time shownMedical, regulatory, legal, securities counsel Day of presentationPresentation wording that matches the release, with no promotional claimsMedical, regulatory After the meetingUpdated message document, website and investor deck aligned to the data shownMedical, regulatory, investor relations
Frequently asked questions
Can a company announce that an abstract was accepted?
A company can announce abstract acceptance under ASCO's 2024 policy, but the release cannot contain study results, data, abstract titles, or session details until the meeting officially releases them. The announcement must stay limited to the simple fact of acceptance.
Can an embargoed release go out on a newswire?
An embargoed press release should not be distributed through a commercial newswire service, as ASCO policy strongly advises against using distribution services for embargoed materials. ASCO states that any use of a distribution wire is undertaken at the risk of the issuing organization and study authors.
What happens if results appear before the embargo?
If study results appear before the designated embargo date and time without an approved exception, the meeting may remove the abstract from the program. Companies that anticipate an unavoidable disclosure requirement must submit an exception request in writing before publication, not after.
Do all medical congresses use the same embargo rules?
Medical congresses do not use uniform embargo rules, because each scientific society publishes its own distinct confidentiality guidelines and release schedules. Communications teams must review the specific policy for every meeting where data is presented and construct the project calendar from those source dates.
How much does biotech PR cost?
Biotech PR retainers typically vary based on program scope and agency experience, with published market ranges detailed in the guide to biotech PR retainer costs. A company choosing an agency for congress communications can evaluate documented life sciences experience in the review of biotech PR agencies compared.
What should a team do first?
A communications team should first download the current public relations policy for the target congress and record every embargo deadline into a shared calendar. Every press release, social media post, investor call and spokesperson briefing is then scheduled around those fixed times.
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