Merger must not sell out British expertise

THE name AstraZeneca may not sound very British, but the pharmaceutical giant has deep roots in the UK, dating back to the 1920s.

it employs 6,700 people here and is responsible for more than two per cent of the country’s entire economic output.

the work of its brilliant research and development team – it is, for example, currently testing a family of drugs that could revolutionise cancer treatment – is vital to the lives of millions. Along with aerospace and financial services, pharmaceuticals is one of the few sectors in which Britain remains a world leader. Given the company’s strategic importance, it is unsurprising that it is being coveted by Us rival Pfizer, which yesterday submitted a takeover bid valuing AstraZeneca at £63billion.

But, equally, the putative deal – which would be the biggest in British history – raises a number of troubling questions.

For, while Pfizer has told David cameron it will protect AstraZeneca jobs in the UK for five years, it is a company known for buying rivals, cutting costs, absorbing the best parts of the business and then selling off the remainder.

in 2011, it axed its only research facility in the UK with the loss of 2,400 jobs. nor can promises made by Us firms to British shareholders and workers necessarily be trusted. Kraft pledged to keep open the cadbury plant near Bristol when it bought the chocolate firm in 2010 – then closed it within weeks and moved manufacturing to Poland. if a Us or French company were facing a similarly hostile takeover to AstraZeneca, politicians would be scrutinising the deal for even the faintest sign it was not in the national interest.

our own ministers, by contrast, seem to be cheerleading for Pfizer and, worryingly, even appear to have put the cabinet secretary, Jeremy Heywood, in charge of helping to broker the transaction. With so much at stake, they need to stop their meddling and order a truly independent inquiry into the merits or otherwise of the deal.

this paper believes passionately in the free market. But we also believe passionately in the need to nurture and preserve British science and creativity – in the national interest.