UBS injects £900m into GSK life sciences hub as it looks to compete with Cambridge

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The boss of drugs giant Astrazeneca has given his backing to Emma Walmsley, the chief executive of rival Glaxosmithkline (GSK), as she comes under pressure from investment firms.

 UBS Asset Management has teamed up with property firm Reef Group to invest up to £900m to create a life sciences cluster.

The pair plan to buy 33 acres of land at GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) research site in Stevenage, which will create up to 5,000 “highly skilled” new jobs. 

While the spot is already a global research and development facility for the FTSE 100 drugs firm, the new investment hopes to make it the second-largest sector cluster after Cambridge University.

Construction of the new campus will begin next year, and UBS estimates the site will be worth £1.5bn once it is developed.

GSK reiterated its growth outlook back in April after posting first quarter sales of £9.8bn, surpassing analysts’ expectations.

The pharmaceutical firm said it anticipated it would deliver sales growth in 2022 of between five to seven per cent at CER and growth of adjusted operating profit of between 12 to 14 per cent at CER. Its guidance was excluding any contribution from Covid 19 solutions.

GSK is notably gearing up for its own break-up, demerging its consumer healthcare business.