AbbVie is investing 120 million pounds ($160 million) to expand its U.K. R&D presence, in a show of faith in the country’s life sciences sector.
The North Chicago-based pharma is launching a new 12,000-square-foot R&D site in Oxford, England, that will “expand AbbVie’s research capabilities across immunology, neuroscience and oncology,” according to a Nov. 3 release.
Along with London and Cambridge, Oxford makes up the so-called “golden triangle” of U.K. life sciences research. AbbVie cemented a presence in this cluster when it bought Oxford-based DJS Antibodies in 2022 in order to get its hands on the biotech’s transmembrane protein-targeting platform.
The pharma said that the new R&D site will “significantly expand” its research capabilities in the region.
AbbVie’s commitment to invest in the U.K. marks a warmer tone than shown by other Big Pharmas over the past year. Tensions reached a height in September 2025 when the likes of AstraZeneca, Merck & Co., Eli Lilly and Sanofi reversed or paused R&D investments in the U.K. over concerns over a medicine price reimbursement scheme.
While the government’s amendments to those rules, along with a deal with the Trump administration, were enough to persuade Cambridge-headquartered AstraZeneca to unfreeze its investments earlier this year, the likes of Merck, Sanofi and Lilly told Fierce recently that their overall stance hasn’t shifted.
GSK—the U.K.’s other Big Pharma—recently announced it will move its R&D headquarters in Stevenage 30 miles down the road to Cambridge. CEO Luke Miels has also had warmer words for GSK’s home country than many of its pharma peers.
Still, Big Pharma’s ire has since turned to Germany, where lawmakers voted in July to pass health insurance reforms aimed at cutting healthcare costs next year, in part by hiking up mandatory rebates that pharmas must pay on branded medicines.
Back in the U.K., AbbVie already employs around 1,200 people spread across four sites. They include a discovery facility in Oxford, as well as primary offices in the English towns of Maidenhead and Marlow.
“AbbVie Oxford is expanding to further harness the leading life sciences ecosystem in Oxford that brings together academic and clinical expertise and strong scientific talent,” Jon Sedgwick, Ph.D., global head of discovery research, AbbVie, said in the release.
“Human biology and reverse translation are fundamental to our approach for identifying promising disease targets and combination therapies to advance potential new medicines for people living with serious diseases where significant unmet needs remain,” Sedgwick added. “This investment will help us build on that approach as we expand our scientific capabilities and deepen collaboration across the U.K. life sciences ecosystem.”
AbbVie used the release to highlight its credentials when it came to this ecosystem, pointing out that it already “supports and engages with more than 100 universities and research organisations each year” across the country. This includes research collaborations with the University of Oxford looking at the causes of and treatments for inflammatory diseases.
“Countries that combine good access and uptake of innovative medicines with world-class research and development are best placed to attract global life sciences investment and improve health outcomes,” AbbVie UK’s general manager Kelly Sanderson Schrems said in the same release.
“The UK has made important commitments on life sciences growth,” Sanderson Schrems added. “Delivering on these commitments is critical to maintaining global competitiveness and ensuring innovative medicines reach patients.”
Where Big Pharma is placing its bets is one of the hot topics being discussed at Fierce Biotech's high-impact event in London next month. Find out more information and register by clicking on the banner below:
