Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to waive Intellectual Property Rights to enable the covid-19 vaccine to be manufactured in the global south.

The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, playing a leading role in financing the global effort, and working to identify end-to-end solutions that ensure affordable access for all.

The UK Government does not consider waiving intellectual property (IP) rights to be an appropriate course of action to boost the manufacturing of safe, effective, and quality vaccines. The IP system has mobilised research and development to deliver a host of new medicines and technologies to detect, prevent, and treat COVID-19. Along with international financing commitments and collaboration, it has facilitated the partnerships necessary for rapid scaling-up of production for new safe and effective products. A positive example of this is AstraZeneca's decision to agree licences and transfer its IP-enabled technology to other manufacturers, supporting the production of 1 billion doses for low- and middle-income countries.