Freedom of Information request on vaccine approval update (FOI 21-052)
Published 24 March 2021
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Thank you for your email of 5 January 2021, where you have asked “Please could you confirm if the following vaccines ordered by the UK government are in the process of being assessed for safety and efficacy,
Valneva Novavax Johnson & Johnson/Jassen GSK/Sanofi “
MHRA neither confirms nor denies that it holds information falling within the description specified in your request. The duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 does not apply, by virtue of Section 41 (Information provided in confidence) and Section 43 (Commercial interests) of that Act. This should not be taken as an indication that the information you requested is or is not held by the department.
Section 41 is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest is required, except to state that we consider its disclosure to constitute an actionable breach of confidence.
Section 43 is a qualified exemption and a consideration of the public interest should be made. We have considered the public interest and cannot see any public interest argument that outweighs the commercial harm in alerting competitors to whether a rival product is trying to come onto the market or not. Examples of public interest arguments would be a major public health risk or a major procedural failure or irregularity
If you have a query about the information provided, please reply to this email.
We now consider this request closed.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date you receive this response and addressed to: info@mhra.gov.uk.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, we are not able to accept delivery of any documents or correspondence by post or courier to any of our offices.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you were to remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you would have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please bear in mind that the Information Commissioner will not normally review our handling of your request unless you have first contacted us to conduct an internal review. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely
MHRA Customer Service Centre
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU Telephone 0203 080 6000