Britain’s two biggest pharmaceutical companies have pledged £430m of investment in France after a charm offensive by Emmanuel Macron. AstraZeneca and GSK have vowed to upgrade their facilities in the country as part of a flagship investment programme unveiled by the French president on Monday. As part of the spending, AstraZeneca will commit €365m (£314m) to a factory in Dunkirk making asthma medicines, while GSK will spend an additional €140m on three production sites across the country. Investment from the FTSE giants will coincide with an additional €500m from overseas rivals Pfizer and Novartis, meaning President Macron has secured nearly €1bn of inbound pharma investment. This is in contrast to the UK where the Government in recent years has been accused of failing to back the pharma sector. Tensions peaked last year when AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said high taxes had made Britain “very unattractive” for business. However, relations have since improved, with the company two months ago committing to a new £650m vaccine factory in Liverpool. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also visited AstraZeneca’s site earlier this year. President Macron’s investments were unveiled as part of the “Choose France” investment summit held at the Palace of Versailles yesterday. More than...