BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics & Policy

U.K. unveils second life sciences deal, headlined by UCB investment

December 5, 2018 6:26 PM UTC

Just days ahead of a Parliamentary vote on a Brexit deal, the U.K. government announced Wednesday a second deal for life sciences that comprises mostly industry investment into the U.K. spearheaded by a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) investment by Belgian pharma UCB S.A. (Euronext:UCB) over the next five years. The £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) deal builds on the life sciences industrial strategy announced by John Bell last year (see "Capital Call").

Under the new life sciences deal, UCB will invest up to £200 million ($256 million) to build a new global R&D hub in the U.K., although a site for the facility has not yet been finalized. UCB already has one of its two global R&D discovery centers located in Slough, U.K. UCB spokesperson Laurent Schots told BioCentury that the additional £800 million ($1 billion) represents the company’s expected R&D budget for its U.K. research facilities over the next five years. He added that UCB expects to maintain its staff of 650 employees in the U.K. over the same period, most of which are in R&D...