Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the covid-19 technology access pool in facilitating the sharing of patent-protected information.

Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) provided initial details on the COVID-19 technology access pool (C-TAP) in October 2020, the UK has closely engaged industry and the research community. We were the first country to bring together the WHO, industry, and researchers by hosting a seminar on how C-TAP will work.

Previous initiatives, like the Medicines Patent Pool, have demonstrated that such mechanisms can deliver real impact. We welcome the voluntary nature of the pool, but need to avoid a 'one-size fits all' approach from deterring potential participants. We continue to pursue these points with the WHO to explore how they can be addressed through the C-TAP operating model.