Question reference: S6W-00519
- Asked by: Gillian Mackay, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 8 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 25 June 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards it has put in place to ensure that the investment it has made in the (a) research and development and (b) manufacturing in Livingston of Valneva’s inactivated whole virus COVID-19 vaccine, will not be used to fund shareholder pay-outs when the company lists on the New York Stock Exchange.
Answer
The Scottish Government has provided in-kind support to Valneva via Scottish Enterprise. There has been no financial investment made in this facility by the Scottish Government.
The decision for any company to list on the Nasdaq is a commercial decision made by the organisation itself and the company already has a stock exchange, listing on the Paris Bourse (Euronext).
Vaccines Taskforce and BEIS have provided the following commentary that the UK Government has supported Valneva by providing funding for its early clinical trials and has also made a multi-million-pound investment to upgrade and expand Valneva’s Livingston manufacturing facility, as part of its supply agreement for COVID-19 vaccines.