GSK plans job cuts as part of a £1.9bn cost-cutting programme funding £400m of UK life sciences investment over the next three years.
As reported by The Guardian, the British drugmaker will move more than 1,000 scientists to a new research and development site on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
It will close its R&D site in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, by 2029, while upgrading laboratories in nearby Ware and moving some employees there.
Luke Miels, chief executive of 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.”
The new Cambridge facility will cover about 300,000 sq ft, or 28,000 sq metres, and is being developed by warehouse builder Prologis.
It will be based on one of Europe’s largest biomedical campuses, which is home to more than 22,000 life sciences workers and more than 470 biopharmaceutical, biotechnology and AI companies.
More than one million patients are treated on the campus each year.
GSK said the site would feature technology-enabled laboratories supporting research into oncology, respiratory conditions, hepatology, vaccines and HIV.
Hepatology is the branch of medicine concerned with the liver, gallbladder, pancreas and related conditions.
The move will place more GSK scientists within the so-called golden triangle of Cambridge, Oxford and London.
The area brings together universities, hospitals, biomedical researchers and life sciences companies.
Andy Burnham described the announcement as a “vote of confidence in British business”.
The prime minister said it was “a boost for homegrown innovation and expertise. And a step towards more people getting access to new medicines and cutting-edge treatments that will change lives for the better.”
The investment follows rival drugmaker AstraZeneca’s decision to invest £300m in the UK, including £200m to expand its Cambridge operations.
AstraZeneca had paused major UK projects in 2025 after becoming dissatisfied with the business environment, including drug pricing and access to new medicines through the NHS.
Miels, previously GSK’s chief commercial officer, began reviewing the company’s drug pipeline after succeeding Emma Walmsley at the start of the year.
The review aims to help GSK develop competitive new medicines more quickly.
GSK now plans to launch 20 phase 3 trials, twice the number announced earlier this year.
Phase 3 trials are large studies designed to test how well a new treatment works compared with standard treatments or a placebo, which contains no active medicine.
The London-headquartered company has not disclosed how many jobs will be lost globally under its three-year savings programme.
The programme is targeting £1.9bn in annual savings by 2029.
Miels said about 45 per cent of the planned savings would come from cutting support services, improving procurement and simplifying processes.
A further 40 per cent would come from moving resources away from established treatments to focus on new medicines.
GSK’s decision to close the Stevenage site comes five years after it announced plans to spend £400m expanding the campus to support a cluster of life sciences businesses.
Shares in GSK rose by six per cent after the announcement, making it one of the biggest risers on the London stock market that day.
