Merck will terminate research and discovery efforts in the U.K., a move that includes pulling out of the Francis Crick Institute and the London BioScience Innovation Center, which will leave 125 employees jobless. The pharma giant is also pulling the plug on a roughly $1.3 billion construction project that was expected to open 120 posts for researchers and technicians. A company spokesperson said the moves reflect “the challenges of the U.K. not making meaningful progress towards addressing the lack of investment in the life science industry.” Successive U.K. governments, the spokesperson continued, have also demonstrated an “overall undervaluation of innovative medicines and vaccines.”
