AstraZeneca increases pressure for Brexit deal

Among the millions of perspectives for UK Prime Minister Theresa May to consider during Wednesday’s talks with European Union (EU) leaders over a Brexit deal is that of AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), one of the largest UK drugmakers.

AstraZeneca chairman Leif Johansson said the company will maintain its freeze on investments in UK manufacturing because it does not know what post-Brexit Britain will look like,  according to Le Monde.

The French newspaper quotes the Swede as saying that AstraZeneca will hold back on investing – continuing an investment freeze that it announced in 2017 – if a transition deal does not make clear what will happen in the future, warning that “a Brexit agreement will need to ensure that Britain does not become an isolated island in the middle of the Altantic Ocean.”