AstraZeneca pauses £200m Cambridge expansion, halting wider £650m UK package
The drugmaker suspended plans for a 1,000‑job research hub as pharmaceutical investment shifts toward the United States
AstraZeneca has paused plans to invest £200 million to expand its Cambridge research site, saying it is reassessing its investment needs and effectively putting on hold the £650 million package of UK projects touted by the previous government.
The Cambridge expansion, announced in March 2024 and expected to create about 1,000 jobs, would have extended the firm’s Discovery Centre, which already hosts roughly 2,300 researchers and scientists. An AstraZeneca spokesperson said: "We constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused."
The pause follows a series of reversals in pharmaceutical investment in the UK earlier this year. AstraZeneca abandoned plans in January to invest £450 million to expand a vaccine manufacturing plant on Merseyside, citing a reduction in government support after what it called "protracted" talks. A separate Liverpool project that was part of the March announcements has also been shelved.
The moves come amid a broader shift in life sciences investment to the United States. In July, AstraZeneca said it would invest $50 billion in the US in medicines manufacturing and research and development. US pressure on pharmaceutical companies to boost domestic investment — including threats of tariffs on drug imports from President Donald Trump — has been cited by industry figures as a factor influencing location decisions.
Earlier this week, US pharmaceutical giant Merck said it had scrapped a planned £1 billion UK expansion, abandoning a site in London’s King’s Cross that had been under construction and saying it would move life sciences research to the US and cut UK jobs. Merck, known as MSD in Europe, blamed successive UK governments for undervaluing innovative medicines.
Over the past decade, UK spending on medicines has fallen from about 15% of the NHS budget to roughly 9%, while comparable developed countries spend between 14% and 20%, industry figures say. Companies have pointed to those funding trends and to the terms of government support in explaining reduced investment or relocation decisions.
AstraZeneca’s paused Cambridge project was one element of the £650 million of investment the former government highlighted when it sought to promote life sciences as a strategic industry. The company said the decision to halt the Cambridge expansion means none of that announced £650 million will currently proceed.
Government officials and industry leaders have frequently described life sciences as vital to the UK’s economic resilience. Chancellor Rachel Reeves described AstraZeneca as one of the country’s "great companies" days before the firm said it would not proceed with the Merseyside expansion in January. Successive governments have pointed to the sector as a success story, even as companies and investors point to changes in policy and funding as factors in relocation and investment choices.
AstraZeneca’s statement on Friday did not specify a timescale for when or whether the Cambridge expansion might resume. The company and industry groups have said future investment decisions will reflect commercial needs, policy settings and the global competitive environment for pharmaceutical research and manufacturing.