Merck has announced that it will discontinue its drug discovery operations in London, citing an increasingly challenging business environment in the UK. The company has abandoned plans to occupy the Belgrove House site at King’s Cross—which had been scheduled to open in 2027—and will relocate research activities primarily to existing sites in the United States. This decision will affect about 125 staff members.

Merck also intends to vacate its laboratories at both the London Bioscience Innovation Centre and the Francis Crick Institute by the end of 2025. The move reflects the company’s assessment that successive UK governments have not made sufficient progress in investing in the life sciences sector, and that innovative medicines and vaccines are being undervalued.

Earlier this year, the company announced a major investment programme in the US: a billion-dollar biologics facility in Delaware expected to generate over 4,500 jobs once fully operational by 2030; a similar facility in North Carolina; and expansion of manufacturing and R&D capacity in Kansas. These shifts form part of a broader US-focused investment strategy by the company.