AstraZeneca CEO: UK must improve investment environment

Astrazeneca Pharma India

06/02/2025 11:26

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Pharma giant AstraZeneca urged
Britain to improve the environment for businesses in order to
drive investment, days after it scrapped plans to build a 450
million pound ($558.86 million) vaccine plant because of a cut
to government support.
    Prime Minister Keir Starmer's plan to stimulate growth in
Britain's stagnant economy by attracting business investment was
given a painful reality check last week when AstraZeneca, the
country's most valuable listed company, cancelled the expansion
of an existing facility in Speke, northern England.
    The chief executive of AstraZeneca said Britain needed to
offer better incentives to secure investment, highlighting the
"very competitive world" in which companies operate. 
    "The UK needs to continue working on improving the
investment environment to attract investment," CEO Pascal Soriot
told reporters as the company announced annual results on
Thursday. 
    He said AstraZeneca was offered "substantial support" by
other governments, like Singapore, to build facilities. 
    For its part, Britain blamed AstraZeneca for scaling back
its research and development plans for the now cancelled
expansion, which would have made next-generation vaccines. As a
result, the finance ministry cut the support on offer.
    AstraZeneca said it remained "very committed" to Britain
despite pulling the Speke plan and is spending 200 million
pounds expanding its Cambridge site. 
    "We as a company continue to work very closely with the
government to support the life sciences strategy to try and
improve the overall environment, to attract investment," Soriot
said. 
    He said the lower level of government support meant the
business case for Speke no longer worked. Science department
minister Chris Bryant said earlier this week the difference in
funding between what was originally offered and the final
proposal was "remarkably small". 

($1 = 0.8052 pounds)

 (Reporting by Maggie Fick and Pushkala Aripaka, Writing by
Sarah Young; editing by William James)
 ((sarah.young@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 1109; Reuters
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