Pfizer 'AstraZeneca' has shut the Leicestershire site after failing to sell it to investors in Asia and North America.

It is believed that the East Midlands economy could lose as much as £45m each year when the Pfizer factory closes.

According to Pfizer about 380 staff have relocated to the pharmaceutical group’s other sites in the UK, Sweden and the US. A further 650 people have found new jobs while about 35 employees have started their own businesses. Another 120 staff have either retired, opted to retrain or taken a career break.

A spokesman for Pfizer said: “We have been proactively engaged in discussions with potential occupiers over several months, including businesses in the healthcare and medical sectors, research bodies, universities and property management companies.

Discussions with third parties are ongoing but at this late stage Pfizer cannot offer any guarantees of success.”

American pharmaceutical group Pfizer is also looking to sell its research and development campus in Kent.

Pfizer announced that it was pulling out of its site in Sandwich.

The closure of the Pfizer site at Sandwich, which was responsible for the discovery of some of the company’s most high–profile medicines, including Viagra – will be putting up to 2,400 jobs at risk.

The 325–acre Pfizer site, which comprises 3m sq ft of built space, could be sold off in its entirety to another company or broken up.

GlaxoSmithKline has ruled out buying the facility, but the University of Kent expressed an interest in using some of the purpose-built facilities developed by Pfizer.

In recent weeks, analysts have raised fears about new drugs being developed by Pfizer.

Earlier this month, Pfizer suffered a setback after admitting that two of its medicines had disappointing trial results.

Pfizer said that Olaparib, a treatment for ovarian cancer, will not go forward into final testing after its mid-stage clinical trial fell short of expectations.

Meanwhile, TC–5214, a medicine aimed at treating depression, did not meet goals set out for the drug, according to Pfizer.

Pfizer said it will take a $381.5m (£247.8m) charge in the fourth quarter because of the failures.

At the time, Barclays Capital analysts said that “additional development failures increase the probability that management will reassess the likely return on investment from additional research and development investment and cut costs further”.

Next year is also likely to be a big year for Crestor – the AstraZeneca’s cholesterol drug. Rival Pfizer has seen its Lipitor cholesterol treatment go off patent in the US and cheaper generic alternatives are now available.

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