Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on jobs in life sciences and access to new medicines of Merck's decision to cancel a planned £1 billion expansion of its UK operations.

The decision by Merck, or MSD, not to progress its investment, is part of a broader effort by MSD to optimise its resources. It announced in July that it would cut $3 billion per year by 2027 and that 6,000 jobs would go worldwide. MSD continues to employ over 1,600 staff in the UK across other operations, including more than 40 collaborative working agreements with the NHS, the Our Future Health project and UK clinical trials. This decision will not impact UK access to new medicines.