Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much revenue was raised for the Exchequer by the sale of the Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre; and whether those funds will be reinvested into life sciences manufacturing capabilities in the UK.
The Vaccine Taskforce granted funding to VMIC Ltd to support development of the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre, a vaccine research and manufacturing facility in Harwell.
In late 2021, VMIC UK Ltd's Board of Directors made the decision to sell the facility through a competitive process. In April 2022, the facility was sold to Catalent. VMIC Ltd subsequently entered a voluntary liquidation.
The courts appointed liquidators to act on behalf of creditors and this process is under way. It is not possible to comment on the question of revenue raised while the liquidation process is ongoing.