GSK launches £1.9bn cost‑cut plan, shifts R&D to Cambridge, closes Stevenage hub

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced a £1.9 billion cost‑cutting programme that includes a £400 million investment in UK life‑sciences. The plan will see more than 1,000 scientists moved to a new 300,000 sq ft research centre on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, developed by Prologis, while the R&D hub in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, will be shut by 2029 with some staff relocated to the upgraded Ware site. Chief Executive Luke Miels said the investment will “accelerate our R&D and help us deliver new, competitive products” and integrate GSK into the UK’s “golden triangle” of biotech. The restructuring will involve job cuts, although exact numbers were not disclosed. The move follows rival AstraZeneca’s recent £300 million UK investment, underscoring a broader push by major pharma firms to consolidate research in Britain’s leading life‑science ecosystem.