§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many mergers and take-overs took place in 1972 and in the first six months of 1973; how many were within the scope of, respectively, the Monopolies and Mergers Act 1956 and the Fair Trading Act 1973: how many were referred to the Monopolies Commission; how many mergers were abandoned after an adverse report from the Monopolies Commission; and what were the reasons for refusals.
§ Sir G. HoweFollowing is the information:
that the elimination in Glaxo of an important independent centre for deciding the allocation of funds for, and direction of, research would jeopardise the discovery and development of new products in the British-owned pharmaceutical industry.