Chris Bryant says reduction of government support was linked to change in drugmaker’s proposed investment. The UK’s science minister, Chris Bryant, has described AstraZeneca’s decision to scrap plans for a £450m expansion of its vaccine plant in Merseyside as “deeply disappointing”. The pharmaceutical company announced on Friday that it was axing the planned expansion of its factory in the Liverpool suburb of Speke, citing factors “including the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government’s proposal”.

Bryant conceded there had been a reduction in government support, saying it had corresponded with a “significant change” in the drugmaker’s proposed investment since last year’s spring budget that would have meant a “smaller level of research and development being conducted in the UK”. Responding to an urgent question in the House of Commons by the shadow science minister, Alan Mak, Bryant said AstraZeneca was “a close and valued partner” in its aim of preventing illness to reduce the burden on the NHS, adding: “AstraZeneca’s decision not to invest … is therefore deeply disappointing.”.

“Both the previous government and this government have always made clear that full due diligence will be required before a final government offer could be confirmed,” he added. Bryant accused the Conservatives of sitting on the “so-called deal” with AstraZeneca for four years as he told MPs the “revised government offer sought to ensure value for money for the taxpayer and followed due diligence of the investment put forward”.

He told the Commons the deal did not “add up for the UK taxpayer” because AstraZeneca had intended to deliver £150m of research and development in Speke, but then cut this to £90m. His comments came after the Financial Times reported that AstraZeneca had rejected an offer of £78m of state support when it pulled the deal last week, down from the £90m offered under the Conservative administration.

It is understood that the drugmaker – Britain’s biggest listed company with a £176bn market value – rebuffed the government at a tense meeting on Wednesday afternoon last week, just hours after Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, described it as one of Britain’s “great companies” in a speech to business leaders on her plans to kickstart UK growth. Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor, had announced the planned investment in March last year. After winning the general election Labour moved to reduce the amount of public money available to £40m, before raising it again in the autumn.

Bryant said the difference between the government’s final offer and Hunt’s had been “remarkably small”, but did not put a number on it.. Sign up to Business Today. Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning. after newsletter promotion. The AstraZeneca chief executive, Pascal Soriot – the highest-paid boss in the FTSE 100, with a pay package of £18.7m – had previously said the investment was, “absolutely ready to go”.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said on Monday: “All government funding must demonstrate value for the taxpayer and a change in the investment proposed by AstraZeneca led to a reduced government grant offer being put forward.”. The factory in Speke, which employs 450 people, will continue to produce its childhood flu nasal spray for the UK and US vaccination programmes. AstraZeneca declined to comment.