GSK were at the forefront of pushing the UK government to cut corporate tax on income generated by homegrown products and in April this year the Patent Box was introduced, setting the tax level at 10%.
As part of GSK’s ongoing commitment to the UK, the firm announced this morning it was pumping an additional £200m into its Ware, Hertfordshire and Worthing, Sussex sites.
GSK spokesman Kalpesh Joshi told in-Pharmatechnologist.com the firm is committed to the UK for the long-term, and this latest announcement comes on the back of a number of recent investments.
“We have a fantastic workforce here in the UK which is important and naturally, the implementation of the patent box has made the UK a more attractive place to invest,” he said.
Ware is both an R&D and manufacturing site but the investment will add capability to produce GSK’s respiratory device, the Relvar Ellipta inhaler, which received European Marketing Approval last month.
Furthermore the location is the preferred site for a centre of manufacturing innovation the firm intends to build dedicated to turning new science and technologies into practical manufacturing applications.
Worthing produces both active ingredients and formulated drugs and will benefit from a new bulk sterile building and filling line for the antibiotic Augmentin.
The company initially pledged £370m in a new facility in Ulverston, Cumbria which is currently being built, and has spent a further £130m on expanding plants in Montrose and Irvine, both in Scotland. Such investment has created almost 1,000 jobs for the UK, the firm said.
Late last month a further £25m was invested into the API facility in Montrose in order to support the delivery of its new pipeline.