知情人士透露，英国财政大臣里夫斯希望减少对阿斯利康疫苗中心提供的财政支持，从上届保守党政府承诺的约9000万英镑腰斩至4000万英镑。1. The previous UK government promised to provide Astrazeneca with approximately 90 million pounds of funding to support its research and development and production business in the UK; 2. The new government, after taking office, hopes to reduce fiscal support for Astrazeneca to 40 million pounds, which has caused great dissatisfaction among Astrazeneca.
On August 23rd, the Financial Association reported (Editor Maran) that the new UK government is doing everything possible to deal with the fiscal dilemma of "no rice left to cook", and the tight fiscal resources force it to carefully consider all expenditure projects. However, on the other hand, many enterprises and projects that are waiting for rice to be cooked are issuing warnings.
Leading cancer company Astrazeneca was revealed on Thursday that due to the failure to reach a consensus with the Labour Party government on the scale of government aid, the company may move its vaccine production base in Merseyside, UK to Philadelphia, USA.
Insiders revealed that UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak hopes to reduce fiscal support to Astrazeneca's vaccine center from the previous Conservative government's promised 90 million pounds to 40 million pounds.
Previous proposals included a 70 million pound grant for the development of Astrazeneca's existing vaccine facility in Speke. The UK Health Security Agency will provide an additional 20 million pounds to support Astrazeneca's research projects.
However, times change. After the Labour Party government came to power, it conducted a thorough investigation of the Conservative government's financial decisions and claimed to reduce spending as much as possible to bridge the deficit. This financial tightening is in stark contrast to the generosity of the US government and has also led to threats of relocation from Astrazeneca.
Is the UK regressing?
Shadow Secretary of State for Technology and Conservative member Andrew Griffith previously participated in initial negotiations between the government and Astrazeneca. He stated that if the Labour Party government is unwilling to increase investment, it will lead to a significant setback for the UK. Astrazeneca is one of the most valuable listed companies in the UK, and its industry is also one of the most valuable industries, so ensuring that the UK is a core supporting country for Astrazeneca's research business is crucial.
According to sources, Astrazeneca is considering producing vaccines in India. However, a spokesperson for Astrazeneca said that the company has not yet negotiated with the United States or India and still hopes to continue developing in the United Kingdom. For this reason, the company will engage in constructive negotiations with the UK government.
But Astrazeneca is clearly unhappy with the Labour government overturning the previous government's commitments. Some are also concerned that the United Kingdom will ultimately become an importer rather than an exporter of Astrazeneca vaccines, which would deprive the country of the initiative in many matters.
Astrazeneca's factory in Speke plans to produce a nasal spray flu vaccine called FluMist. In March of this year, the Conservative government claimed that Astrazeneca would invest £450 million in Speke to expand its research, development, and production of new vaccine business.
