NICE to rule on influenza flu drug zanamivir

The British pharmaceutical industry will start to move out of Britain if the government makes the environment antagonistic to its interests, Sir Richard Sykes, chairman of GlaxoWellcome, predicted on Monday.

Sir Richard's comments, on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, came after it was reported that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) was about to recommend to the health secretary, Frank Dobson, that GlaxoWellcome's new influenza drug zanamivir (Relenza), should not be available on the NHS.

Sir Richard said that his company was not threatening to pull out of Britain, but he warned: “If [the government] continues to …