Pfizer in the UK

Pfizer has a rich heritage of working within the UK since our first facility was opened back in 1952.

Over the past 70 years, we have continued to invest in the UK and are committed to working with the NHS and other healthcare organisations across the industry, developing solutions to improve the delivery of care and patient outcomes.

Supporting the NHS Ambition

We support the NHS Long Term Plan's ambition for prevention, empowering people to control their own health, harnessing new technologies and improving the quality of patient care and health outcomes. We believe these are key to help ensure a sustainable NHS and gives the government, the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry the chance to form a new relationship, truly working together to meet these challenges head-on while putting patients first.

We believe it's critical that we help ensure patients have access to new medicines, and that we support the NHS to meet growing demands, whilst delivering the skills, investment and employment opportunities that will ensure a thriving life sciences economy in the UK.

Our UK investment

In 2021, we spent over £266 million supporting research and development carried out in the UK and contributed to 102 collaborations with universities, pharmaceutical companies, industries and others. Through collaborations with scientists, academics and clinicians, sharing knowledge, skills and expertise we aim to improve the health and lives of people in the UK and around the world. During 2021, we had 27 clinical trials on-going in the UK, across 71 UK sites, involving over 234 patients since the trials started.

The NHS has access to over 150 Pfizer medicines and vaccines that are delivered to pharmacies, surgeries and hospitals across the UK.

Our UK investment goes beyond our medicines. In 2020, we contributed over £5.9 million in donations to charities, patient organisations, community organisations, academic institutions and professional societies. We also actively support the scientists of tomorrow, through the National Apprenticeship Programme, our undergraduate placement scheme and through various STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) and SIP (Science Industry Partnership) activities.

Our business in the UK

The UK is an important location for Pfizer, with over 2,400 colleagues in four locations working across our commercial business, research and development (R&D) and manufacturing.

Our site in Sandwich is home to Pfizer’s fully automated ‘Pilot Plant’ that manufactures medicines for use in our clinical trials worldwide and is able to perform every step in the complex process of developing new medicines. Sandwich is also home to Pfizer's Worldwide Safety & Regulatory operations, where medicine licensing for 170 markets across the globe is managed.

Our Devices Centre of Excellence in Cambridge, is another key site, specialising in the design and development of medicines 'delivery devices', such as auto-injectors and injector pens.