Pfizer Ranked Top Foreign Firm in UK Academic Research

US drugmaker Pfizer has more collaborations with British universities than any other foreign company, according to the newly published Dowling Review conducted by Ann Dowling, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The business daily Financial Times (FT) commented that the review sheds new light on Pfizer’s role in the UK science base a year after it was defeated in a bitter battle to buy AstraZeneca. It recalls that fears Pfizer would cut jobs and scrap research at the UK pharmaceuticals group fueled political opposition to the proposed £69.4 billion deal.

In the discussion about Pfizer’s grab for AstraZeneca, the US company’s commitment to the UK was questioned. It was pointed out that the drugmaker cut thousands of jobs four years earlier at its former research and development center in Sandwich, Kent, where the blockbuster erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra was discovered.

Pfizer said it was proud that its support for “world class science in the UK” had been recognized by the review. Analysts have speculated that the pharmaceutical giant, still flush with cash, may return to Britain for another raid on one of the country’s biggest drugs groups, possibly Glaxo SmithKline (GSK).

According to the Dowling Review, two-thirds of the 40 companies with the greatest number of collaborations with UK universities are based overseas. In pharmaceuticals, these include Bayer and Roche.