Blow to UK as Novartis scraps plan for big cholesterol drug trial

Government wants to make UK ‘life sciences superpower’ but Swiss firm cancels Leqvio trial with NHS

The Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis has ditched plans for a large clinical trial in the UK, in a further blow to the government’s efforts to make the country an attractive place for research and investment after Brexit.

The company decided to scrap the Orion-17 trial of its cholesterol-lowering drug Leqvio involving 40,000 patients in partnership with NHS England.