Overview

• AstraZeneca confirmed a halt to its £200m Cambridge expansion, leaving its previously announced £650m UK investment package on hold and shelving plans that were set to create about 1,000 jobs.
• Merck scrapped its Belgrove House research centre in King’s Cross, will end discovery research in the UK, and will shut two London labs with about 125 job losses, saying the UK is "not internationally competitive."
• The government called the decisions concerning, defended the UK’s investment record, and pointed to Merck’s global $3bn cost-cutting plan and 6,000 job reductions, as MPs sought urgent scrutiny including a select committee session next week.
• Negotiations over NHS drug pricing collapsed last month, with industry objecting to steep rebate rates reported around 23.5%, and companies warning that innovative medicines are undervalued.
• An ABPI/PwC report shows life-sciences foreign direct investment fell about 58% between 2017 and 2023, as other drugmakers raised concerns or paused projects and US policy pressure increased the pull of investing in America.