The joined-up thinking that characterised Britain’s immediate response to the need for a Covid-19 vaccine in 2020 is now just a memory – despite its stunning success in helping to protect the population.
The latest blow is an announcement from US biotech company Catalent, which took over the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre at Harwell, near Oxford when it bought out the government’s shares in April 2022.
Catalent promised to invest £120 million to complete building the centre, which already had more than £200 million of government money invested in it.
Now, in a move revealed by The Times newspaper, Catalent says it’s “pausing” construction. According to Fierce Pharma, the company is cutting expenditure in the face of a slowdown of income from Covid-19 products.
• A longer version of this article is available on the web at www.cpbml.org.uk.