Latest news with #PascalSoriot
Spectator
a day ago
- Business
- Spectator
Could Trump kill Britain's pharma industry?
The global trading system is adjusting to the tariffs levied by the United States: for most goods they look likely to settle at roughly 15 per cent. The microchip industry will carry on much as before, the auto manufacturers will adjust, and even if it means drinking more Californian instead of French wine, the drinks trade will settle down. There is just one exception: pharmaceuticals. President Trump is determined that drugs should be manufactured on American soil. And if he follows through on that, Britain risks losing one of its last major industries. The tariffs on pharma imports will start with just a few percentage points, but the plan is for them to escalate very quickly. 'In one year, one and a half years maximum, it's going to go to 150 per cent and then it's going to go to 250 per cent because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country,' Trump said yesterday. It is a punitive level, and one that will force the major drug companies to shift production to the US, or else see their sales and profits wiped out. In fairness, the President has a point. The drugs industry has long treated the American market as a source of easy profits, with prices for the same medicine on average 2.7 times higher in the US than in the rest of the world. In effect, it keeps the entire global industry afloat. Even worse, it has also side-stepped American corporate taxes by manufacturing elsewhere, declaring the bulk of the profits in other countries, and shipping the final pills across the Atlantic. Ireland in particular has created a booming industry making drugs for the American market – Ringaskiddy in County Cork is even known as Viagra village – but so have Switzerland and the UK. Overall, it is a bad deal for American consumers, and it is easy to see why Trump wants to change it. The trouble is, unless we can find a way to carve out an exemption, the UK looks like it will be one of the major losers. Life sciences is one of our few remaining major industries, led by giants such as AstraZeneca and GSK. AZ's CEO Sir Pascal Soriot has already discussed moving the company's headquarters and listing to the US. True, drugs companies can always just ramp up their manufacturing operations in the US, as both Astra Zeneca and GSK have said they will, but with the bulk of their revenues, research and profits in the US it may only be a matter of time before they relocate completely. Trump may be mistaken in believing that domestic manufacturing is a matter of national security, although he is right that US prices are too high. Time is running out to save one of our last major industries from soon moving across the Atlantic.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
AstraZeneca CEO on the Company's Plan to Invest $50 Billion in the U.S.
"We will be totally self-sufficient for the supply of medicines to American patients." AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot on the company's plan to invest $50 billion in the U.S.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
AstraZeneca's potential exit raises alarm for UK markets
AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot isn't confirming or denying reports that the UK's largest listed company is considering moving its primary stock market listing from London to New York. Yet recent remarks reveal where the company's future may lie. At AstraZeneca's half-year results press conference, Soriot gushed about the US, 'the country in our industry where innovation is taking place'. AstraZeneca is 'a very American company'. Soriot 'always believed in the great future of America' and, just to be sure no one missed the message, added: 'I definitely love America.' It plans to invest $50 billion in the US over five years, including building its largest-ever manufacturing facility in Virginia, and expects half its sales to come from the US by 2030. READ MORE While reaffirming its commitment to UK research sites such as Cambridge, Soriot stopped short of endorsing the London listing. His critique of Europe's low pharmaceutical investment and NHS pricing controls hints at wider tensions. The UK market has seen multiple major departures: CRH, Flutter, Arm and BHP. Pharmaceutical company Indivior left in July. Payment firm Wise is also saying farewell. In the past year 88 companies left the UK market, with another 70 already exiting in 2025, seeking higher valuations and liquidity in the US. AstraZeneca's exit would deal the biggest blow yet to the London Stock Exchange, so expect renewed calls for tax reform – especially 0.5 per cent stamp duty on shares – and regulatory easing. Otherwise, the argument goes, the Square Mile risks losing more ground to Wall Street.
ITV News
6 days ago
- Business
- ITV News
Is Donald Trump winning the tariff war he started?
'I definitely love America,' declared Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, earlier this week. Unusually, the British pharmaceutical giant - headquartered in Cambridge - announced its half-year results not in London, but across the Atlantic. Not long ago, AstraZeneca was wrapping itself in the Union Jack to fend off a hostile takeover bid from the American drugmaker Pfizer. Now, it's whistling Yankee Doodle - ramping up investment in the US (to the tune of $50 billion, or £38 billion) and doing little to silence the campfire gossip that it may shift its primary stock market listing from the UK to the United States. America's economic might is such that when the president demands greater inward investment, companies like AstraZeneca feel compelled to be seen playing ball. Trump's approach has forced open some doors to bigger markets for American exporters. Bioethanol, for example, will flow toward the UK in greater quantities - or so British producers fear. But there's little evidence his tariff barrage is reviving US manufacturing or delivering the industrial jobs boom he promised. Yes, higher tariffs have boosted US government revenues - but those revenues come from American importers, and they're nowhere near enough to cover the tax cuts and spending pledges in Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act. The IMF forecasts that US borrowing will rise further. And yet Trump presses on - underpinned by a belief that any country selling more to the US than it buys must be exploiting it. Most economists argue that's wrong-headed - America runs a large trade deficit because it consumes and borrows too much. But here we are. The faster Trump can close trade deals with the countries still in limbo, the less damage will be done. There's little to celebrate in the new round of tariffs, though they aren't as punishing as first threatened. The UK, along with the Falkland Islands, secured a relatively low 10% rate - the best on offer. Trade in goods will take a hit. Economic growth will slow. The UK is not in the direct firing line but won't escape unscathed and could fare worse if Trump turns his attention to services. Mexico has won a 90-day reprieve. Canada and Germany are among the most exposed. Switzerland is in shock, hit with a 39% tariff, well above the 31% Trump threatened back in April. And then there's China, the elephant in the room. It remains the biggest source of US imports by far. Talks continue, but it's unclear whether common ground can be found. Inflation in the US is rising and likely to rise further. But the American economy is growing regardless, seemingly impervious to the chaos surrounding it. The recession some predicted hasn't materialised. The dynamism is extraordinary. As one economist put it to me: 'The US economy is like a well-made car. You can drive it really badly but it's got such a powerful engine and such great brakes, it's almost impossible to stall.' Could Trump's trade strategy ultimately come unstuck? Possibly. But for now, the engine keeps running.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AstraZeneca Profit, Revenue Lifted by Cancer Drugs
AstraZeneca Plc reported better-than-expected sales and rising profit for the second quarter, spurred by its stable of cancer medicines and growth in the US. Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot has turned the company into an oncology powerhouse, and increasing the company's presence in the U.S.. The company pledged $50 billion by 2030 in both production and research and development. Soriot told Bloomberg Businessweek Daily the company wants to work with states that work quickly and understand the pharmaceutical giant's vision.
