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AstraZeneca pauses its £271 million Cambridge investment, reflecting growing concerns over the U.K.'s life sciences sector and government support.
The halted expansion follows Merck’s decision to scrap its U.K. expansions and return manufacturing to the U.S.
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AstraZeneca announced plans to pause its $271 million investment for a research site in Cambridge. The announcement follows Merck’s recent decision to abandon its new research facility in Kings Cross, London, after concerns were raised about Britain’s life sciences sector, and now the country’s largest drug manufacturer is following suit.
Merck announced it was discarding its plans of expanding operations in the U.K, due to mounting pressure from President Donald Trump to invest in U.S.-based pharmaceuticals, along with concerns over the British government’s commitment to investing in the life sciences sector. Shortly after Merck’s announcement, AstraZeneca revealed it was pausing plans on investing in a research site located in Cambridge.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson touched on the decision in a statement, saying, “We constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused.”
Along with Merck’s decision, evidence shows that over the last 10 years the U.K.’s investment in medicines dropped 6% from 15% of the National Health Service (NHS) budget to 9%, meanwhile other countries with appropriate resources are reportedly spending between 14% and 20%. Additionally, President Trump’s threats of enforcing pharmaceutical companies with “sky-high” tariffs on drug imports is pushing companies to invest into U.S. pharmaceuticals and life sciences, along with forcing many companies to rethink finical decisions on a global scale, such as AstraZeneca who claimed it would invest $50 billion on U.S.-based medicine manufacturing and research & development back in July of this year.
AstraZeneca’s expansion project was set to create 1000 jobs and was originally announced by the previous government in March, 2024, as a part of the company’s $880 million investment plan in Britian, alongside a vaccine manufacturing plant set to be built in Merseyside. However, the plant’s plans were scrapped in January of this year with the blame yet again falling on reductions in government support. According to the BBC, AstraZeneca said that after "protracted" talks, several factors influenced the move, including "the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government's proposal".2 Despite ditching its original investment plans, AstraZeneca is still committed to "continuing to produce and supply our flu vaccine, for patients in the UK and around the world,"in its site in Speke.2
With AstraZeneca and Merck’s decisions to cancel new research and manufacturing sites in the U.K. along with AstraZeneca’s current plans at a standstill, Britain’s government finds itself in a difficult situation. A treasury spokesperson touched on the challenges faced when deciding grant funding, specifically when AstraZeneca’s first investment property was canceled, saying, "All government grant funding has to demonstrate value for the taxpayer and unfortunately, despite extensive work from government officials, it has not been possible to achieve a solution."2With successive U.K. governments crediting life sciences as one of its most successful industries, with former chancellor Jeremy Hunt touching on the sector, saying it’s "crucial for the country's health, wealth and resilience," while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said AstraZeneca was one of the U.K.'s "great companies" just before the company announced it was scrapping its expansion plans.
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