Investment provides significant growth opportunity for UK’s life sciences sector and in shaping the country’s research and manufacturing footprint.
After five decades at its Stevenage site in the UK, GSK is moving to pastures new under plans to accelerate its R&D operations.
The pharmaceutical giant is building a new 300,000ft2 research facility on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in the heart of the UK’s life sciences ‘Golden Triangle’.
It will feature leading-edge, tech-enabled laboratories, as well as infrastructure to support the firm’s research activities for its core therapeutic areas of oncology, respiratory, hepatology, vaccines and HIV.
Luke Miels, Chief Executive Officer, GSK, 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.”
“This investment will accelerate our R&D and help us deliver new, competitive products”
Luke Miels, Chief Executive Officer, GSK
AstraZeneca is one of the 470 biopharma/biotech and AI companies currently located at the campus.
While GSK’s new facility will house over 1,000 scientists, the move will mean a loss of 800 scientist jobs from the Stevenage site, which is set to close in 2029.
Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer, GSK, said: “The [Cambridge] campus provides exceptional opportunities for collaboration. With our existing connections and experience, we see this move as a catalyst for faster, bolder medicines discovery by accelerating the science that matters most for GSK’s next wave of medicines.”
Additionally, GSK is investing £400 million over the next three years to upgrade its existing R&D laboratories in Ware, Hertfordshire, supporting manufacturing scale up capability.
BeOne Medicines also recently chose to invest $300 million in its flagship R&D centre in the US. Expansion of the New Jersey facility will support the firm’s oncology pipeline and onshoring manufacturing activities to the US. It brings BeOne’s overall manufacturing investment in Hopewell to over $1 billion.
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