GSK employs 1,800 people at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, where it created its R&D centre 30 years ago. The move places GSK on the same campus as AstraZeneca, Britain’s other big pharmaceuticals company, which relocated its R&D operations there from Cheshire in a £1.1 billion investment. Luke Miels, GSK’s chief executive since January, said: “This investment will accelerate our R&D and help us deliver new, competitive products. The Cambridge investment is being funded through a three-year restructuring programme targeting £1.9 billion in annual savings by 2029, at a one-off cost of £2.4 billion. GSK halted development of the drug for refractory chronic cough this month after phase III trial results.