LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Monday hit back at AstraZeneca over the collapse of a 450 million pound ($558.5 million) investment, saying the drugmaker had scaled back the research and development portion of its plans, resulting in a lower offer of government support.
On Friday, AstraZeneca scrapped plans to invest in its vaccine manufacturing plant in northern England, citing a cut in financial support from the British government among other unspecified factors.
The decision to ditch the development was a high-profile blow to Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s push to attract investment as he tries to stimulate growth in Britain’s stagnant economy.
Called to parliament by the Conservative opposition to explain the collapse of the deal – first announced when the Conservatives were in government – science department minister Chris Bryant on Monday described AstraZeneca’s decision as “deeply disappointing”.
“The original intention from AstraZeneca was to deliver 150 million pounds worth of R&D. They then decided to cut that to something like 90 million pounds,” he told parliament.
“Our revised government offer sought to ensure value for money for the taxpayer, and followed due diligence of the investment put forward by AstraZeneca.”
Bryant said the previous government had offered support to the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker of around 90 million pounds, but he did not specify the amount of the revised offer.
In its statement on Friday, AstraZeneca said: “Several factors have influenced this decision, including the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government’s proposal.”
The company did not have an updated statement on Monday.
($1 = 0.8057 pounds)
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)
