Rubella Vaccine (Hansard, 25 November 1994)

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when her Department first became aware of the research leading to the production of the rubella vaccine.

§ Mr. Sackville
Rubelle vaccine was developed from a cell line, MRC5, taken from a foetus terminated at a national health service hospital in 1966. This information has been in the public domain since the vaccine was introduced in 1970. Details of the MRC5 cell line were published in an article in "Nature Magazine" in 1970 and the origin of the vaccine is mentioned in the memorandum, "Immunisation against Infectious Disease", copies of which are available in the Library.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what authorisation was given by(a) Department and (b) any other official group charged with monitoring the ethics of research to the development of the rubella vaccine from the cells of an aborted child.
(2) who authorised clinical trials of the rubella vaccine; and when these were conducted.

§ Mr. Sackville
This research and the clinical trials were conducted nearly 30 years ago and the information requested is not available.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what clinical trials of the rubella vaccine derived from the cells of an aborted child were conducted on children; what were the processes for consent; and if volunteers were informed of the vaccine's origin.

§ Mr. Sackville
The research was undertaken by vaccine manufacturers and such details are not available. The hon. Member may wish to contact the manufacturers of the vaccine who are listed in the memorandum "Immunisation against Infectious Disease", copies of which are available in the Library, for such information.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the medical grounds under which the unborn child, whose cells were taken to culture the rubella vaccine, was aborted.

§ Mr. Sackville
The cell line from which the rubella virus was cultivated was taken from a foetus which was terminated in a national health service hospital for psychiatric reasons. The foetus was not terminated to provide the source of the cell line.
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§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health who conducted the research and development of the rubella vaccine.

§ Mr. Sackville
The research was conducted by Professor S. Plotkin at the Wistar insitute, Philadelphia.