Why UK scientists are wary of Pfizer’s promises on research
If you believe the comments from leading British scientists, you’d be forgiven for thinking American drug giant Pfizer is nothing short of a corporate zombie with an insatiable appetite for fresh intellectual property.
A company that’s grown so large it can no longer make decent returns to its shareholders without feasting on the ideas of others, its latest victim – British drug maker AstraZeneca – flush with potentially lucrative anti-cancer therapies.
But Pfizer, I’ve learned today, has been reaching out trying to show a softer side. Company executives have been ringing round learned societies like the British Pharmaceutical Society and pressure groups like the Campaign for Science and Engineering to reassure them their intentions toward AstraZeneca are noble.
Their message is a simple one. Pfizer wants AstraZeneca because it values what it calls Britain’s unique scientific strength: some of the most innovative researchers in the world. While we may not spend the same as many other governments on R&D, and while we might not employ as many scientists as other countries, ours consistently come up with the good ideas.
High praise indeed – and true if you compare Britain’s overall academic achievement to other counties. According to Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, the UK has 1 per cent of the world’s population and 3 per cent of the global funding for research, but produces over 14 per cent of the most highly regarded scientific work.
But our scientists are wary of Pfizer’s flattery.
It’s no corporate minnow, but AstraZeneca is valued for supporting relationships with research scientists in small companies and academia. By offering a source of investment, and a potential market for ideas over the last few decades, the company’s role in Britain’s fairly healthy R&D sector is popular with researchers.
Pfizer, on the other hand, has a less than impressive track record. Its 2009 merger with drug giant Wyeth came with assurances of maintaining the company’s R&D spend. But by last year the $8bn Wyeth used to invest in research had shrunk to $6.7bn.
Closer to home, Pfizer gave assurances in 2011 that it would protect its manufacturing facility in Sandwich in Kent. Then they shut it, with the loss of more than 1,500 jobs.
Pfizer bosses appear before two parliamentary select committees next week to try and explain their intentions. The company has already made assurances to the prime minster that a merger will only benefit the UK pharmaceutical sector. But they still have a lot of convincing to do.
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