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Scientists comment on Merck (known as MSD in Europe) withdrawing from its planned £1bn London research centre.
Richard Torbett, Chief Executive of the ABPI, said:
“This news is a real blow to the UK’s life sciences ambition. No one wants to hear that successful and innovative companies like MSD are reducing their investment and footprint in the UK.
“This news must be used as an opportunity to reflect on what factors are driving companies to make such difficult decisions, and what this country can do to ensure it is attracting the high-quality investment we need and not driving it away.
“I continue to believe that the UK has the potential to lead globally in developing the next generation of medicines and vaccines, but without a more competitive environment for investment, we risk losing out to other countries that are prepared to make bold moves to attract internationally mobile investment.”
Prof Tara Spires-Jones, Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Group Leader in the UK Dementia Research Institute, and Past President of the British Neuroscience Association, said:
“As a fundamental neuroscientist working in dementia research, the news that major pharmaceutical companies are pulling out of investment in the UK is a concern. The goal of our translational research is to contribute to new treatments for diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, and to translate our findings on fundamental brain changes in disease into treatments, we need industry collaborators. While we collaborate with industries worldwide, having companies within the country means innovations reach people living with dementia in the UK faster.”
Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu DBE FMedSci HonFRSC, Chair in Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, UCL School of Pharmacy, said:
“This is a huge blow for the sector. It is not just the science and innovation that will now happen in a different location outside of the UK and the loss of the associated science jobs; there will also be a negative impact on the science ecosystem as the collaborations between the Merck centre of excellence and scientists and technologists in the university/ healthcare sectors will be lost and innovation in these sectors thus hampered.
“Resets such as these also harm up and coming companies who may have relied on upstream innovation from such a well-funded Merck facility in order to create other products and services.”
Sharon Todd, Chief Executive, Society of Chemical Industry, said:
“The growing exodus of large-scale businesses from the UK is immensely alarming. Science based businesses such as pharmaceutical and chemical companies have not only a rich, proud heritage in Britain, but are critical to driving growth in the economy and building our national resilience.
“We have seen an increasing number of industrial plants shutting down due to the UK’s high energy prices, resulting in loss of jobs and competencies. The loss of Merck together with statements from AstraZeneca this summer that it is considering relisting in the US are major markers of the lack of competitiveness in the UK should be setting off alarm bells in government.
“Research published by SCI and LEK Consulting in March 2025 [UK economy losing out on £15 billion a year as life sciences investments shift overseas] showed how poorly the UK is performing in terms of competitiveness on life sciences across a range of policy areas, and these policies are resulting in a loss of £15Bn pa in GVA today from the UK economy. The Merck announcement highlights that no sector is safe – and the ambition to be a science superpower is far from our grasp.
“The ABPI’s new Pharmaceutical Competitiveness Framework published yesterday calculates that life sciences foreign direct investment into the UK was around 58% lower in 2023 (£795 million) than in 2017 (£1,893 million) mirroring the findings of the SCI Report. It highlights the areas that need clear policy interventions.
“Government needs to address this lack of competitiveness urgently. It will not grow the economy without significant structural changes and it risks losing the last vestiges of companies who can invest on scale. The Industrial Strategy is meaningless without real policy actions that will drive economic growth.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgzyxjr0lzo
Declared interests
Prof Tara Spires Jones: I have no conflicts with this study but have received payments for consulting, scientific talks, or collaborative research over the past 10 years from AbbVie, Sanofi, Merck, Scottish Brain Sciences, Jay Therapeutics, Cognition Therapeutics, Ono, and Eisai. I am also Charity trustee for the British Neuroscience Association and the Guarantors of Brain and serve as scientific advisor to several charities and non-profit institutions.
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.