British drug giant Astrazeneca has paused a planned £200 million expansion of its research site in Cambridge in a fresh blow to the UK pharmaceutical industry.
It comes after the pharmaceutical firm abandoned plans to invest £450 million in a vaccine plant in Merseyside earlier this year in a blow to the Government as it seeks to stress its commitment to growing the economy and making the country more attractive to international investors.
An Astrazeneca spokesperson said on Friday: “We constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused.
“We have no further comment to make.”
In February, Astrazeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said he was “very disappointed” in the move to scrap the Merseyside site but that the company “couldn’t make the investment economically viable”.
Mr Soriot denied any rift with the Government over the decision and said Labour had failed to match the previous government’s offer of support.
The cancelling of the plant reversed an announcement made by then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt at last year’s March budget that would have seen the pharmaceutical company expand its existing facility in Speke.
Last month, Astrazeneca announced plans to invest 50 billion dollars (£37 billion) in the US over the next five years amid the looming threat of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
The firm said the investment will fund a new “state-of-the-art” manufacturing facility in Virginia – set to be its largest single manufacturing investment in the world.
It will also expand research and development (R&D) and cell therapy manufacturing in Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Indiana and Texas.
By Rosie Shead, PA