AstraZeneca boss receives ridiculous pay

The boss of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca’s pay rose to £17.7 million in 2025. That’s after Keir Starmer’s administration bent over for Donald Trump and Big Pharma in December last year, accepting a 25% increase in pricing for NHS drugs.

AstraZeneca— Extracting wealth from people’s healthcare

Unsurprisingly, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot welcomed the increased NHS costs in February. He called them a “very positive step”, suggesting he wants to milk even more from the NHS.

That’s all despite AstraZeneca cancelling investment plans in the UK.

Big pharma companies stopped nearly £2bn in investments in the UK in 2025. For example, US drugmaker MSD announced that it would abolish its £1bn London research centre. Shortly after, AstraZeneca said it would scrap a £200m investment in research facilities in Cambridge.

It was the US ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens, who asked chancellor Rachel Reeves to enable pharmaceutical companies to drain more resources (via profit) from the NHS.

Trump and big pharma holding the NHS to ransom comes despite MSD, for instance, making £3.27bn in net income in the first quarter of this year.

End privatisation

The price gouging makes it clear that big pharma should be brought in-house to relieve pressure on the NHS. Moneyed rewards can remain with nationalisation. Scientists already receive prizes for breakthroughs and the same could be done in a public sector pharmaceutical division to further incentivise discoveries beyond public good.

That way private suppliers cannot use their position to demand more and more money from the NHS. Indeed, drug company Roche has refused to offer the NHS drugs for terminal cancer because of its excessive profit motive. It’s worth noting that a lobbying firm that has represented that company also donated £55,800 to former Labour cabinet minister Anneliese Dodds.

Healthcare should be public including all its resources. That means pharmaceuticals and land.

Although, it seems Starmer is in the pocket of the corporate extractors.

Featured image via DW