Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce ‘step-in’ rights as a condition to granting COVID-19 research funding for the issuing of non-exclusive licenses if a licensing partner fails to comply with the requirements of providing the health technology at an affordable and fair price.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) contract, used to fund some COVID-19 research, contains a licence back to the Department – known as a ‘step-in right’. This contractual right enables the Department to use, and sub-license to others, all intellectual property created with its funding, and any related intellectual property owned by another party who is contributing to the research project. For COVID-19 research, the Department can exercise the right where the Department is in a position to use or promote the outputs of the funded research in order to achieve ‘Patient Benefit’, including the prevention, treatment or management of any threat to public health.