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| Pascal Soriot announces the firm's $50 bn investments in the US /Getty |
AstraZeneca has halted its plans to invest £200 million at a research facility in Cambridge, marking another setback for the UK pharmaceutical sector.
This initiative, which was expected to generate 1,000 jobs, was initially announced in March 2024 by the former government, alongside another initiative in Liverpool that was abandoned in January.The announcement made on Friday follows the decision by US pharmaceutical giant Merck to cancel a £1 billion expansion in the UK, citing insufficient government investment, while President Donald Trump exerts pressure on pharmaceutical companies to increase their investments in the US.
An AstraZeneca representative stated: "We continually evaluate our company's investment requirements and can confirm that our expansion in Cambridge is currently on hold."
Over the past decade, the proportion of the NHS budget allocated to medicines in the UK has decreased from 15% to 9%, whereas other developed nations allocate between 14% and 20%.
At the same time, pharmaceutical companies have been seeking opportunities to invest in the US, prompted by Trump's threats of exorbitant tariffs on drug imports.
In July, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest $50 billion (£36.9 billion) in the US for "medicines manufacturing and R&D [research and development]."
Earlier this week, Merck, which had already commenced construction on a site in King's Cross, London, scheduled for completion by 2027, announced it would no longer occupy the site.
The multinational corporation, known as MSD in Europe, indicated it would relocate its life sciences research to the US and reduce jobs in the UK, attributing this decision to successive governments' failure to recognize the value of innovative medicines.