The Vaccine Taskforce fully recognises the importance of effective clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of potential vaccines. The case for early human challenge studies is under constant review and we are working at pace to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible.

OneWeb has met with the Royal Astronomical Society as well as representatives from the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency to discuss the potential impact of its operations on astronomy. We will continue to support this dialogue on an ongoing basis.

There are no plans to review the methods for assessing scientific evidence following the outcome of the hydroxychloroquine arm of the RECOVERY trial.

Results from trials, even if the treatment proves ineffective, are still very useful in understanding COVID-19 and which other treatments could be more effective. This includes dexamethasone, which was also identified by the RECOVERY trial as having a significant benefit for hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who require oxygen or ventilation.

UKRI has been working at pace to deliver rapid response funding calls including the Joint UKRI-DHSC call launched on 4th February. Although there is a need to work faster than usual given the urgency of the current crisis, UKRI continues to follow existing processes for managing, monitoring, assuring, and reconciling applications and the delivery of funding.

Characterisation of neutralising antibodies is still in its infancy. The role of neutralising antibodies in providing treatment or as a marker for protection against reinfection is not yet fully understood. Scientists at Public Health England and elsewhere are working in this area, and conclusions will be reported in scientific journals as new evidence emerges.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), commissioned by the Department, conducts regular analyses of the COVID-19 and other clinical trials, including geographical analysis. This analysis enables NIHR to ensure patients and members of the public from all parts of England and in all relevant sites have access to research. In addition, it enables work to ensure a better matching of clinical trials with disease prevalence, which benefits both patients affected and researchers. The NIHR Clinical Research Network, using its 15 regional centres across the country, ensures that there is a balance between the different needs of localities based on local knowledge of disease burden and a coordinated response across England.

This Government recognises the significant contribution that the creative industries make to innovation and research and development. That is why, as part of the Government’s Creative Industries Council, chaired by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, there is a specific working group that focuses on this issue. Ministers have been in regular contact with the Creative Industries Council during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, on 6th May, the Government’s Arts and Humanities Research Council announced a major new campaign ‘Boundless Creativity’, backed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This campaign will pioneer new ways in which culture can thrive in a digital age by working with the UK’s leading arts organisations and creative businesses to create ambitious and ground-breaking projects to speed up the development of new and exciting ways of engaging, entertaining and educating audiences, not just in the UK, but around the globe.

The Government has been closely monitoring the emerging data and evidence on COVID-19. This happens in a number of ways including academic research networks, regular conversations between United Kingdom experts and their international colleagues, and resources such as the live systematic map being updated by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre, funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

The Government is currently funding two United Kingdom vaccine candidates; one at the University of Oxford led by Professor Sarah Gilbert and one at Imperial College London led by Professor Robin Shattock.

Imperial’s vaccine candidate is in pre-clinical testing and the University of Oxford started Phase 1 (human safety) trials on Thursday 23 April. Oxford have recruited healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 to take part in these trials.

The article adds to the growing body of evidence that cancer genes and mechanisms are altered by mutations in non-coding DNA, this is approximately 95% of the genome which does not contain code for a protein. Analysis of whole genome sequencing data can provide information on how mutations in both coding and non-coding regions relate to cancer and other diseases.

In 2018, the Government committed to sequencing at least one million whole genome equivalents over the next five years and this will provide the data for further analysis of the contribution of both coding and non-coding DNA to disease processes.

We are aware of the trend in the decline in research and development returns reported by Deloitte in its report “Measuring the return from pharmaceutical innovation 2016”. This is part of an established trend.

Working with industry through the Life Sciences Strategy we want to make sure the UK is the best place in the world to develop and launch new medicines.

Government is already taking action in key areas that will benefit the life sciences sector, such as the recent announcement of an extra £2bn a year for R&D by the end of this Parliament including a new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. We are also providing £100m of funding to extend and enhance the Biomedical Catalyst, supporting innovative life science companies to translate cutting-edge medical technologies into commercial success.

The UK invested 1.7% of GDP in research and development in 2013, compared to an EU28 average of 1.9%.

The UK has a world-class science and research base and achieves a high rate of return for its investment. With 0.9% of global population, 4.1% of researchers and 3.2% of R&D expenditure, the UK accounts for 6.4% of articles, 11.6% of citations, and 15.9% of the most highly cited articles. We are the most productive science base in the G7, and rank first amongst comparable major research nations for Field Weighted Citations Impact.

In 2011/12 the Government funded approximately £450 million on agriculture and food related research, and in 2013 the Agricultural Technologies Strategy secured a further £160 million to accelerate innovation by UK food and farming businesses.

It is not possible to give separate figures for research into improvement of yields in arable farming as this is supported by a wide range of advances in knowledge and technology. Key ongoing research programmes in this area include:

• the £90 million Technology Strategy Board’s Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform,

• Defra’s Food and Farming research programmes (which can be searched at: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/),

• The £50 million p.a. Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programmes for Rural Affairs and the Environment,

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/About/EBAR/StrategicResearch/future-research-strategy)

• Research funded through the Research Councils (whose programmes can be searched via: http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/).

Research funders across Government coordinate many of their activities through the Global Food Security Programme (http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk ), and the UK Plant Health evidence group.