AstraZeneca has halted its planned £200m ($270m) investment in a research facility in Cambridge, UK, according to reports from Reuters.
The investment, which was anticipated to generate 1,000 new jobs, is currently on hold.
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The pharmaceutical company’s decision indicates that none of its newly announced funding, initially revealed in March 2024, is moving forward at this time.
Earlier this year, AstraZeneca shelved a separate £450m investment in a vaccine manufacturing plant in northern England, citing reduced support from the UK Government.
The decision to cease development in Liverpool’s Speke area coincides with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to attract more investment to Britain.
In a broader context, AstraZeneca, which holds the largest market capitalisation on the FTSE 100, announced in July plans to allocate $50bn towards enhancing its manufacturing and research operations in the US by 2030.
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By GlobalDataThe move aligns with reactions from several pharmaceutical companies in response to US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Following the withdrawal of its vaccine plant investment, AstraZeneca called for the UK to create a more favourable business environment to encourage investment.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has expressed concern this week, stating that the UK is “increasingly being ruled out of consideration as a viable location for pharmaceutical investment”.
Negotiations between drugmakers and the government, regarding how much revenue should be returned to the nation’s health service, have reportedly reached an impasse.
This development comes at a sensitive time for the Starmer government, coinciding with Trump’s impending visit to the UK.
Recently, Merck & Co (MSD) has scrapped plans for its £1bn R&D centre in London, UK while ceasing drug discovery and research efforts across the country.
This news comes fewer than two years after the company started construction on the R&D hub in King’s Cross, which was set to become the company’s UK headquarters.
