UK tax rate deters pharma investment

Bloomberg

AstraZeneca Plc said it chose Ireland for a new manufacturing facility instead of the UK because of punitive tax rates, raising fresh fears over Britain’s attractiveness to Big Pharma.
The drugmaker initially wanted to make the $360 million investment in the UK, but “the tax rate was discouraging,” Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said in a briefing with journalists. “You need an environment that gives you good returns and incentive to invest.”
Soriot also pointed to Ireland’s commitment to rapidly delivering green energy over the next few years as another reason why that country was more attractive for Cambridge, England-based AstraZeneca.
The comments are at odds with the government’s ambitions to turn the UK into a life-sciences superpower. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the creation of a new science department this week as part of a broader reorganization.
Other pharmaceuticals leaders have also pointed to the challenges facing the UK, with GSK Plc’s Emma Walmsley last week warning that Britain is at a “tipping point” if the right decisions aren’t taken soon.