The British drugmaker GSK is to announce sweeping job cuts as part of a £1.9bn cost-cutting programme to fund a £400m investment in UK life sciences over the next three years, including a new research and development centre in Cambridge, as it seeks to develop drugs more quickly under its new chief executive, Luke Miels.
On Tuesday, GSK said it will move more than 1,000 of its scientists to its new site on the Cambridge biomedical campus. It will close its R&D site in Stevenage in Hertfordshire by 2029, while upgrading its R&D laboratories at nearby Ware and relocating some employees there.
“GSK to cut jobs as part of £1.9bn cost-cutting plan to fund £400m UK life sciences investment and new Cambridge R&D centre.”
Miels 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 300,000 sq ft (28,000 sq metre) Cambridge site, being developed by the warehouse builder Prologis, sits on one of the largest biomedical campuses in Europe. More than 22,000 people working in life sciences and more than 470 biopharma, biotech and AI companies are based there, with more than a million patients treated each year. The company said the site will feature state-of-the-art, tech-enabled labs to support research in oncology, respiratory, hepatology, vaccines and HIV.
The consolidation brings more scientists to the UK’s “golden triangle” of Cambridge, Oxford and London, where GSK said its teams would have access to a “world-class ecosystem of biomedical research, patient care and academia”.
Andy Burnham welcomed the investment, describing it 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.”
GSK’s announcement comes months after rival AstraZeneca, Britain’s biggest drugmaker, made a surprise U-turn and announced a £300m investment in the UK, including a £200m expansion in Cambridge, having previously paused large-scale projects in its home country in 2025 after becoming disillusioned. The twin investments underscore a renewed focus on UK life sciences, though the job cuts signal a painful restructuring for GSK’s workforce as it bets on a leaner, faster R&D operation.