Witty warns that European pharma companies may move to Asia or US if price cuts continue

Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK, Europe’s largest pharma company, has warned that many pharma businesses may move their operations increasingly to the US and Asia if the pricing pressures continue in Europe as part of the continued Government austerity measures. He said that the 7-8% fall in prices this year across the continent were more than had been expected and had affected sales results. If this continued, the pharma companies would need to look more closely at where they located. He revealed that in one European country, prices were now less than half of what they were 16 years ago. GSK employed about 15,000 in the UK in research laboratories and manufacturing, and Witty hoped to see a long-term expansion in the UK.