This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/sep/11/big-pharma-will-halt-investments-in-uk-warns-eminent-scientist-sir-john-bell
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Big pharma will stop investing in UK, top scientist warns after Merck’s £1bn exit | Big pharma will stop investing in UK, top scientist warns after Merck’s £1bn exit |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Comments by former professor of medicine at Oxford follow scrapping of planned London research centre | Comments by former professor of medicine at Oxford follow scrapping of planned London research centre |
| Sir John Bell, a prominent scientist who brought business and government together during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, has warned that other big pharmaceutical companies will stop investing in the UK, after Merck’s decision to scrap its planned £1bn London research centre. | Sir John Bell, a prominent scientist who brought business and government together during the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, has warned that other big pharmaceutical companies will stop investing in the UK, after Merck’s decision to scrap its planned £1bn London research centre. |
| Bell, a former regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, told Today on BBC Radio 4 that he had spoken to several chief executives of large companies in the past six months “and they’re all in the same space, and that is, they’re not going to do any more investing in the UK”. | Bell, a former regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, told Today on BBC Radio 4 that he had spoken to several chief executives of large companies in the past six months “and they’re all in the same space, and that is, they’re not going to do any more investing in the UK”. |
| He made the comments a day after Merck, known as MSD in Europe, said it would pull out of research & development (R&D) in the UK with the loss of 125 science jobs, citing the UK’s lack of progress on life science investment and the “overall undervaluation of innovative medicines and vaccines by successive UK governments”. | He made the comments a day after Merck, known as MSD in Europe, said it would pull out of research & development (R&D) in the UK with the loss of 125 science jobs, citing the UK’s lack of progress on life science investment and the “overall undervaluation of innovative medicines and vaccines by successive UK governments”. |
| The Canadian immunologist, who was an early member of the government’s vaccine taskforce and previously worked on Oxford university’s Covid vaccine with AstraZeneca, said: “This is a sign of something which has been evolving over a little while, but it’s going to now, I think, lead to a whole series of events which will mean that the industry is going to stop investing in the UK.” | The Canadian immunologist, who was an early member of the government’s vaccine taskforce and previously worked on Oxford university’s Covid vaccine with AstraZeneca, said: “This is a sign of something which has been evolving over a little while, but it’s going to now, I think, lead to a whole series of events which will mean that the industry is going to stop investing in the UK.” |
| He said the pharma industry “is in real trouble in terms of pricing, particularly in America”, where Donald Trump has put pressure on companies to lower prices, and not to sell medications at a much lower price elsewhere. | He said the pharma industry “is in real trouble in terms of pricing, particularly in America”, where Donald Trump has put pressure on companies to lower prices, and not to sell medications at a much lower price elsewhere. |
| A big issue is the amount of money the NHS spends on medicines, he said. | A big issue is the amount of money the NHS spends on medicines, he said. |
| “Ten years ago, we used to spend 15% of our healthcare spend on pharmaceuticals. Now it’s 9%. The rest of the world, the OECD, are sitting between 14% and 20%,” Bell said. | “Ten years ago, we used to spend 15% of our healthcare spend on pharmaceuticals. Now it’s 9%. The rest of the world, the OECD, are sitting between 14% and 20%,” Bell said. |
| Long-running negotiations between the UK government and drugmakers over the cost of medicines broke down last month. | Long-running negotiations between the UK government and drugmakers over the cost of medicines broke down last month. |
| Under the voluntary pricing and access scheme, companies agree to pay back to the NHS a certain amount of their UK revenue made from branded drugs. They are now paying back between one-quarter and one-third of their UK revenue (23.5% to 35.6%), compared with rebate rates of 5.7% in France and 7% in Germany, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. | Under the voluntary pricing and access scheme, companies agree to pay back to the NHS a certain amount of their UK revenue made from branded drugs. They are now paying back between one-quarter and one-third of their UK revenue (23.5% to 35.6%), compared with rebate rates of 5.7% in France and 7% in Germany, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. |
| Bell said that Britain had “great science in academia”, and “great biotech companies” and infrastructure funded by government, “but without large companies, it isn’t going to work”. | Bell said that Britain had “great science in academia”, and “great biotech companies” and infrastructure funded by government, “but without large companies, it isn’t going to work”. |
| Sign up to Business Today | Sign up to Business Today |
| Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning | Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning |
| after newsletter promotion | after newsletter promotion |
| He added: “The large companies do have to work in a system where they can sell their products, and if they can’t sell their products here, they’ll go and do their business somewhere else.” | He added: “The large companies do have to work in a system where they can sell their products, and if they can’t sell their products here, they’ll go and do their business somewhere else.” |
| He said the UK had been in this situation before, and “solved [the problems] by being a bit more creative for what we did”. He referred to the cancer drugs fund, introduced in 2011 by then prime minister David Cameron. The UK had fallen behind on cancer medicines, and the fund enabled it to buy innovative, more expensive drugs. | He said the UK had been in this situation before, and “solved [the problems] by being a bit more creative for what we did”. He referred to the cancer drugs fund, introduced in 2011 by then prime minister David Cameron. The UK had fallen behind on cancer medicines, and the fund enabled it to buy innovative, more expensive drugs. |
| Bell has just stood down as president of the Ellison Institute of Technology, founded by the US billionaire Larry Ellison, who briefly overtook Elon Musk as the world’s richest man on Wednesday. At the start of this month, the institute launched a new AI vaccine research programme with Oxford. | Bell has just stood down as president of the Ellison Institute of Technology, founded by the US billionaire Larry Ellison, who briefly overtook Elon Musk as the world’s richest man on Wednesday. At the start of this month, the institute launched a new AI vaccine research programme with Oxford. |
| The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. | |
| If you have something to share on this subject you can contact the Business team confidentially using the following methods. | |
| Secure Messaging in the Guardian app | |
| The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. | |
| If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Scroll down and click on Secure Messaging. When asked who you wish to contact please select the Guardian Business team. | |
| SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post | |
| If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform. | |
| Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each. |