AstraZeneca has put on hold its £200 million expansion at a Cambridge research facility, dealing another setback to Britain’s pharmaceutical ambitions as global investment shifts toward the United States.
The project, unveiled in March 2024 under the previous government, promised to create 1,000 jobs and expand AstraZeneca’s existing Discovery Centre, which already employs 2,300 researchers and scientists. But on Friday, the company confirmed the investment has been paused, following a series of high-profile cancellations in the sector.
“We constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson said.
The announcement comes just months after the company shelved a £450 million plan to expand its vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside, blaming a reduction in government support. In January, US-based Merck also scrapped a planned £1 billion research hub in London’s King’s Cross, despite construction already being underway.
Both AstraZeneca and Merck cited waning UK government investment as a key factor in their decisions. Over the past decade, UK spending on medicines has dropped from 15% of the NHS budget to 9%, far below the 14–20% levels seen across much of the developed world. Industry leaders say this has made the country less attractive to global pharmaceutical firms.
The situation has been compounded by international pressures. In July, AstraZeneca pledged $50 billion (£36.9 billion) for new investment in the United States, including manufacturing and research and development. The move followed threats by US President Donald Trump to impose steep tariffs on imported drugs, a policy designed to encourage firms to shift investment stateside.
Merck, known in Europe as MSD, also announced this week that it would relocate life sciences research to the US, cutting UK jobs in the process. The company said successive UK governments had undervalued innovative medicines, undermining confidence in the long-term business environment.
Together, the cancellations mean none of the £650 million of UK investment heralded by the previous government is currently set to go ahead. The decisions mark a sharp reversal for a sector long celebrated as a pillar of the UK economy.
Successive governments have described life sciences as central to Britain’s economic and health strategy. Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt called the industry “crucial for the country’s health, wealth and resilience,” while current chancellor Rachel Reeves praised AstraZeneca as one of the UK’s “great companies” just days before its Liverpool expansion was scrapped.
With investment now shifting abroad, analysts warn the UK risks losing its competitive edge in pharmaceuticals, a sector that has historically underpinned both innovation and exports.
