Proactive Investors - GSK PLC (LON:GSK) has opened a new £65 million drug factory in Hertfordshire in a move it said would enable rapid production of medicines developed through its research pipeline.
In contrast to UK rival AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN), which chose to build a new US$400 million factory in Ireland earlier this year, GSK has plumped for Ware, the site of its life science campus that already employs around 1,350 people.
AstraZeneca blamed the UK’s “very unattractive” tax decisions for its decision, adding it had originally planned to build its plant in England’s northwest.
Drug suppliers in the UK now have to pay a surcharge if the NHS’s medicines bill rises and since Covid the levy has been rising rapidly, they say.
Talks are underway with the government over how the scheme will function next year.
Emma Walmsley, GSK’s chief executive, has previously highlighted rising costs for pharma companies operating in Britain.
“We do need to sit down now and start talking to make sure that the next scheme, which will start in 2024, gets this balance right.”
Simon Freeman, Science minister, said: “Investments from the private sector leaders like GSK are a critical part of the deep, long-term partnership between government, industry, investors and the NHS, underpinning the success of UK life sciences.”
GSK is focusing on new treatments for HIV and vaccines for flu and RSV.
Shares rose 1.2% today to 1,481.6p.