AstraZeneca plans to invest $405 million in Britain, PM Keir Starmer says

London: Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that Britain's biggest company AstraZeneca would invest 300 million pounds ($405 million) in the country, after ‌pausing large-scale ⁠projects ⁠last year.

"I can announce a significant new investment ​by AstraZeneca, investing 300 million pounds in UK life sciences, ​made possible by the pharmaceutical arrangement we have struck with the United States," Starmer told lawmakers ​in parliament.

Also Read: AstraZeneca India plans to sell 64-acre Bengaluru site for Rs 3,400 crore


The investment comes ⁠after drugmakers, ‌including AstraZeneca, have praised the U.S.-UK ​deal, ​which is aimed at increasing medicine ⁠prices in Britain, in line with the ​Trump administration's new U.S. pricing policies.

Companies, including ​AstraZeneca, say Europe risks missing out on new medicines in the new policy environment, known as most-favored-nations.

Also Read: AstraZeneca to invest $2.5 billion in China research and development hub

AstraZeneca had pulled back projects in Britain, citing the business environment, including a ‌200-million-pound investment plan in Cambridge where it has one of the country's ​leading life sciences ​hubs. It ⁠had earlier scrapped a proposed 450-million-pound in a vaccine manufacturing plant in northern England after a cut in ​government support.

Starmer said the latest investment would future proof 1,000 jobs in the northern English town of Macclesfield and in Cambridge.