To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that inhaled interferon beta is manufactured in the UK in the event that final-stage clinical trials of the drug prove effective in treating covid-19.
Answered on
12 April 2021
On 30 November, we announced a £20 million Medicines and Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund. This will offer capital grants to businesses, incentivising them to place internationally mobile high value manufacturing investment, such as the manufacturing interferon beta in the United Kingdom.
The Department has been working constructively with Synairgen to assist them in generating data in support of their inhaled interferon beta treatment, SNG001. We continue to monitor progress on SNG001 closely. However, purchasing of therapeutics will only be considered once there is sufficient evidence of safety and efficacy and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has provided marketing authorisation.