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Astrazneca rejected a 80 million pounds of offline support in the country's support in the United Kingdom when it suddenly canceled plans for a 450 million pounds vaccine manufacturing site near Liverpool, according to the people who were briefed on the matter.
The people said that the group of medicines, the most valuable company in the United Kingdom, refused to offer the government in a tense meeting on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after Chancellor Rachel Reeves, which Astrazenica determined in a speech as one of the “great companies” in Britain.
Astrazneca also raised a number of non -relevant issues with the government during negotiations on the planned vaccine factory in Mercyside, including NHS's refusal to prepare breast cancer and the drug pricing mechanism in health service, according to three people in discussions.
“Several factors have affected this decision, including timing and reducing the final offer compared to the proposal of the previous government,” the negotiation details account provides a new context for the Astrazneca statement on Friday.
The government of the Labor Party in Starmer sought last summer after taking office to reduce the amount of public funds offered to the factory in Speke to 40 million pounds, a decrease from about 90 million pounds and the previous conservative government promised.
The offer of 90 million pounds under the Conservative Party consists of 70 million pounds from grants to Speke and 20 million pounds in supporting research and development from the UK Health Security Agency.
UK officials this month made a revised total offer of 78 million pounds as financial support, according to the people familiar with the matter.
The initial reduction in the state’s support came after government officials diligently WIM at the level of investment and development that Astrazeneca promised, according to several people who are aware of the negotiations.
The officials concluded that the company was proposing a lower investment than expected at the beginning, and as a result, the government reduced its proposed contribution.
Astrazneca refused to comment. The Treasury said: “All government funding must show value to taxpayers and a change in the investment proposed by Astrazeneca to the provision of government cash grants,” the Treasury said.
Astrazeneca's decision to cancel a factory of 450 million pounds, which was described as a center for the production of the next generation of influenza vaccines and potential emerging diseases, was a blow to Starmer and REEVES, who in recent weeks sought to emphasize the UK's attractiveness.
Before the general elections in July 2024 highlighted its pro -business credentials, including a pledge not to raise corporate tax. Although Reeves maintained this promise in its first budget, it struck companies of 25 billion pounds annually in increasing national insurance contributions.
Kate Bingham, the administrative partner of the SV Health Investors, and the former head of the Covid-19 vaccine duties in the United Kingdom, said the cancellation of the Speke factory “continues on a miraculous issue as the government bites the hands that fed it.”
She said: “The life science sector is supposed to be a utmost priority for growth in the United Kingdom, yet the government appears to be lacking in appropriate and mental experience to strike a fruitful partnership.”
The conservatives seized the cancellation, as the shadow minister, Andrew Griffiths said: “There is no vaccine for incompetence.”
A person close to Astrazneca said that the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and the UK government has become “toxic”, adding that “we have one of the worst commercial environments of pharmaceutical preparations in the Western world.”
Astrazeneca is invested extensively in the United States, as it pledged $ 3.5 billion in late last year, as well as in other countries such as Singapore and Canada.
Last year, England monitored health care spending refused to recommend Astrazeneca breast cancer for use by NHS, on the pretext that the price was very high. The first breast cancer drug rejected by the National Institute for Excellence in the field of health and care for more than six years.
Astrazneca medicine makers also became frustrated with NHS after a Clawback tax increased unexpectedly This year, drug groups can be made from selling new drugs to the UK government this year from selling new drugs to the UK government.
The CEO and the Board of Directors of the Industry Association met with the Minister of Health Wes last month to complain about having to pay 22.9 per cent of its sales in the UK to the government this year, much more than that of 15 percent.
NHS England said that the purchases of cell treatments and potential therapeutic genes, medicines for cases including cancer, diabetes and eye diseases increased more than expected in 2024, which led to a high tax rate.
