AstraZeneca shifts some drugmaking to US to avoid potential Trump tariffs

AstraZeneca is shifting the production of some medicines sold in the US from Europe to the US, to counter the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs.

- Julia Kollewe

Speaking as the company reported higher sales and profits for the first quarter, the FTSE 100 pharma company reiterated that the UK, and the rest of Europe, risked losing out to the US and China unless they ramped up spending on new medicines.

Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca's chief executive, warned that advanced manufacturing and research jobs could move to the US in the long run.

While the industry is holding its breath in case of threatened US tariffs on the pharma sector, which has been largely exempt under a 1995 World Trade Organization agreement aimed at keeping medicines affordable, Soriot said the impact on AstraZeneca would be limited.

If tariffs were imposed in the range announced against imports from other industries from Europe, the drugmaker would still be able to achieve its targets this year, as it has built up stocks in the US, he said. Most of the medicines sold by AstraZeneca in the US are already being produced in the country, across 11 sites.