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Global Business: Bitter Pill 

Bitter Pill 

24/09/2011

Bitter Pill

BBC World Service - Global Business, Bitter Pill

Peter Day looks at the closure of one of the UK's most successful pharmaceutical plants.

This week Peter Day returns to what was, until recently, a famous centre of excellence in the UK pharmaceutical industry.  But now its owners Pfizer, are closing it down.

This week on Global Business, Peter Day is in Sandwich, Kent, on the south east coast of England.  

This small town is the home to the research and development site of global pharmaceutical company, Pfizer.  

It was here that Viagra was developed, as a by product of another drug.  

It's also a company that Peter Day is very familiar with having spent several years following the development of an HIV/Aids drug for another programme.  

But there's a problem, Pfizer announced that it will be closing the site with the loss of over 2,000 highly specialised jobs. Peter Day returns to find out why and the effect it will have on the local community.

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