AstraZeneca pauses £200-mn UK research site expansion

London: British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has paused a planned 200 million ($271 million) expansion of its research site in Cambridge, eastern...

London: British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has paused a planned £200-million ($271-million) expansion of its research site in Cambridge, eastern England, in the latest blow for inward investment in the UK.

It follows the company in January abandoning plans to build a £450-million vaccine plant in northwest England and comes days after US pharma group Merck dropped plans to build a $1.4-billion research centre in Britain.

Merck blamed the country's "lack of investment" in the sector and its drugs prices.

An AstraZeneca spokesperson said in a short statement late on Friday that the firm's management "constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused".

"We have no further comment to make," the spokesperson added.