Freedom of Information request on the regulatory approval on the COVID-19 vaccines (FOI 21/973)
Published 20 January 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-responses-from-the-mhra-week-commencing-30-august-2021/freedom-of-information-request-on-the-regulatory-approval-on-the-covid-19-vaccines-foi-21973
2nd September 2021
FOI 21/973
Dear
Thank you for your email.
A list of the excipients in each vaccine can be found in the Information for Healthcare Professionals at the following links:
Regulatory approval of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Regulatory approval of Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Regulatory approval of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Regulatory approval of COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Regarding your request, for the RNA sequence, this is exempt under Section 41 (Information provided in confidence) and Section 43 (Commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
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 providing commercial secrets to competitors, who would be able to use this information to aid the development of their own rival product.
If you have a query about the information provided, please reply to this email
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