The British drugmaker GSK is to announce sweeping job cuts as part of a £۱.۹bn cost-cutting programme to pay for a £۴۰۰m investment in UK life sciences over the next three years, including in a new research and development centre in Cambridge, as it looks to develop drugs more quickly under its new chief executive.
The pharmaceuticals company announced on Tuesday it will move more than ۱,۰۰۰ of its scientists to its new site on the Cambridge biomedical campus. It will close its R&D site in Stevenage in Hertfordshire by ۲۰۲۹, while upgrading its R&D laboratories at nearby Ware and moving some employees there.
Luke Miels, the GSK chief executive, said: “This investment will accelerate our R&D and help us deliver new, competitive products. It integrates GSK further into one of the world’s leading centres of knowledge and demonstrates the attractiveness of the UK’s life sciences ecosystem.”
GSK’s new ۳۰۰,۰۰۰-sq ft (۲۸,۰۰۰ sq metre) Cambridge site, which is being developed by the warehouse builder Prologis, is on one of the largest biomedical campuses in Europe. More than ۲۲,۰۰۰ people working in life sciences and more than ۴۷۰ biopharma, biotech and AI companies are based there, and more than a million patients treated there each year.
The company said the site would feature state of the art, tech-enabled labs to support its focus on research in areas including oncology, respiratory, hepatology, vaccines and HIV.
The move will bring more scientists to the UK’s “golden triangle” – Cambridge, Oxford and London – where GSK said its teams would have access to a “world-class ecosystem of biomedical research, patient care and academia”.
The company’s investment was welcomed by Andy Burnham, who described it as a “vote of confidence in British business”.
The prime minister said it was “a boost for homegrown innovation and expertise. And a step towards more people getting access to new medicines and cutting-edge treatments that will change lives for the better.”
GSK’s investment announcement comes just months after its rival AstraZeneca, Britain’s biggest drugmaker, made a surprise U-turn and announced a £۳۰۰m investment in the UK, including a £۲۰۰m expansion in Cambridge. It had previously paused large-scale projects in its home country in ۲۰۲۵, after becoming disillusioned with the business environment, including with the availability of new medicines on the NHS and drug pricing.
Miels, who was previously GSK’s chief commercial officer, began a review of the FTSE ۱۰۰ company’s drug pipeline when he took over from Emma Walmsley at the start of the year in a bid to develop competitive new medicines more quickly.
GSK now intends to launch ۲۰ phase ۳ trials, large-scale research studies designed to test how well a new treatment works compared with standard treatments or placebos – double the number announced earlier this year.
The company, which is headquartered in London, declined to share the number of redundancies it would make globally as it announced a three-year cost savings programme targeting £۱.۹bn in annual savings by ۲۰۲۹.
However, Miels told journalists that about ۴۵% of planned savings would come from cutting support services, working on better procurement and simplifying processes, while a further ۴۰% of targeted savings would come from moving resources away from established treatments in order to focus on new drugs.
GSK’s move to close its Stevenage site comes just five years after it announced plans to spend £۴۰۰m in extending its campus, in a bid to build a cluster for new life sciences businesses.
