Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what return the Government has received on the provision of its grant-funding to the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre as part of the completed sale of that organisation; and what assessment he has made of the value for money obtained.

VMIC is a private company and due to commercial sensitivity, we cannot state how much funding we expect to recover from the grants provided to the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC).

The Government is supportive of VMIC Board’s decision to sell its Harwell facility and expects it to deliver strong positive value for money for the taxpayer. Catalent, the facility’s purchaser, is a global leader in the MRNA sector, with substantial experience manufacturing Moderna’s mRNA COVID vaccine, as well as the Pfizer, Janssen and AstraZeneca vaccines. Catalent is planning to invest up to £120m in the facility and provide up to 400 jobs. With this investment, Catalent will be able to complete and sustainable use the facility for the development and manufacture of biologic therapies and vaccines, potentially including mRNA: a valuable contribution to the UK’s vaccine resilience.