AstraZeneca is to invest £650m in the UK, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in his Spring Budget.
The pharmaceuticals giant will expand its footprint on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and fund the building of a vaccine manufacturing hub in Speke in Liverpool.
AstraZeneca will invest £450m at its manufacturing site in Speke, Liverpool, for the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines.
AstraZeneca will also expand its presence at Europe’s largest life sciences cluster in Cambridge with £200m in investment.
The facility will house around 1,000 employees and will be adjacent to its £1.1bn global R&D Discovery Centre (DISC), which already hosts 2,300 researchers and scientists.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “To drive investment we’ve delivered one of the most competitive business tax regimes of any major economy, as part of our plan to help our key industries to grow.
“Our £108bn Life Sciences sector provides over 300,000 high skilled jobs across the UK and is crucial for the country’s health, wealth and resilience.
“We are sticking to our plan to make the UK one of the best places in world to invest in developing and manufacturing new, innovative medicines – both protecting public health and growing our economy. AstraZeneca’s investment plans are a vote of confidence in the attractiveness of UK as a Life Sciences superpower and strengthen our resilience for future health emergencies.”
AstraZeneca chief executive Sir Pascal Soriot, added: “AstraZeneca’s planned investment would enhance the UK’s pandemic preparedness and demonstrates our ongoing confidence in UK life sciences.
“We will continue to support the UK in driving innovation and patient access, building on the strong foundations which have been put in place.
“This year marks 25 years since the merger of UK-based Zeneca Group and Swedish Astra AB. We are proud of our British roots and how far we have come over that time – we are now a truly global company that has transformed the lives of millions of patients throughout the world with a relentless focus on science and innovation.”