AstraZeneca Announces £300m UK Investment After Previous Project Pauses
Pharma giant to complete Cambridge headquarters and build 'lab of the future' in Macclesfield, securing jobs
نظرة سريعة
- AstraZeneca will invest £300m in the UK, completing its Cambridge headquarters and building a digital research facility in Macclesfield.
- The announcement marks a U-turn after the pharma giant paused £650m in projects last year due to disillusionment with the NHS business environment.
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the investment as a 'major vote of confidence' in the UK economy.
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لماذا يهم
AstraZeneca had paused major UK investments last year after becoming disillusioned with NHS drug pricing and availability. The company scrapped a £200m Cambridge project in September and a £450m vaccine facility in Speke in January, citing reduced government support.
Britain’s biggest drugmaker AstraZeneca has said it will invest £300m in the UK in a surprise U-turn after pausing large-scale projects last year. The drugmaker had pulled back projects in Britain after becoming disillusioned with the business environment, including the availability of new medicines on the NHS and drug pricing.
On Wednesday, it said it would invest in two existing sites at Cambridge and Macclesfield. Keir Starmer announced the investment in the House of Commons, saying the move would protect jobs. AstraZeneca will complete the construction of the Rosalind Franklin building on its Cambridge campus, where it has its headquarters. It will also build a “lab of the future” that will use digital and data tools to advance drug development at its Macclesfield site, Soriot said.
Last September, Astra paused a £200m investment in Cambridge, which followed the scrapping in January of plans to invest £450m in its vaccine manufacturing facility at Speke, Merseyside, citing a cut in government support, after months of negotiations.
Starmer said: “Today I can announce a significant new investment, by AstraZeneca, investing £300m in UK life sciences, made possible by the pharmaceutical arrangement we have struck with the United States, to future-proof thousands of jobs in Macclesfield and in Cambridge. That is a major vote of confidence in the UK, and Labour’s plans to strengthen our economy.”
Pascal Soriot, the company’s chief executive, thanked the government “for their effort to improve access for patients, including four new [drug] approvals since the beginning of the year, and we look forward to further enhancing the access and the reimbursement environment and build a strong life sciences sector”.
The move came as AstraZeneca and GSK both reported strong sales of cancer drugs, despite GSK taking a hit in the US potentially linked to “scepticism” over vaccines from Donald Trump’s administration. AstraZeneca posted an 8% increase in revenues to $15.3bn in the three months to March, including 16% growth in oncology and a 15% rise in rare disease treatments. GSK reported a 5% rise in sales to £7.6bn, with 28% growth in cancer drug sales, such as Jemperli for womb cancer. Vaccine revenues were up by 4% with the shingles jab Shingrix notching up £1bn in sales for the first time.
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توقعات الذكاء الاصطناعي — احتمالات وليست حقائق
AstraZeneca may announce additional UK investments if drug approval and reimbursement environment continues to improve
محتمل · خلال أشهر
GSK may face continued US headwinds if vaccine skepticism persists
مرجح · خلال أشهر
أسئلة مفتوحة
- What specific pharmaceutical arrangement with the US enabled this investment?
- Will more drug approvals follow the four mentioned?
- Will the Speke facility plans be revisited?
