The boss of Britain’s biggest listed firm is considering shifting its stock market listing to the US in a move that raised fears the City could become a global backwater, writes Callum Muirhead.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot is reportedly weighing what would be a devastating blow to the London Stock Exchange. The move comes amid growing frustration with the UK’s rules on approving new medicines as well as a row over drug prices between the industry and the NHS.

Soriot has spoken privately of his desire to move the FTSE 100 drugs giant’s listing on multiple occasions. He has also considered moving AstraZeneca’s headquarters away from the UK as well as its main stock market listing, the Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Shares have fallen by 17pc over the past year. They rose 2.8 per cent or 282p, to Zeneca is the largest company on the London Stock Exchange with a value of £158 billion.

Soriot, 66, has previously criticised the UK and the rest of Europe for falling behind other countries such as the US and China in developing medicines. In April, he said that innovation in pharmaceuticals "has mostly been funded by the US".

The company has also been heavily investing in China, which Soriot considers to be a major untapped source of sales. AstraZeneca is the largest company on the London Stock Exchange with a value of £158bn.

A move would deal a severe blow to the beleaguered UK market, which has been hit by a number of defections.

It is also likely to fuel fears that other major British firms, including oil giant Shell and miners Glencore and Rio Tinto, all of whom have previously considered moving away from London, could follow suit.

Michael Healy, UK managing director at trading platform IG, said: "Another week, another potential hammer blow to the UK stock market. We’re in dangerous waters – London risks becoming a global backwater unless something changes fast."

Charles Hall, head of research at broker Peel Hunt, said: "This is another warning shot that we cannot take our capital markets for granted."

But Soriot is likely to face stiff resistance from members of the company’s board of directors as well as from the government.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at broker AJ Bell, said such a move would be "difficult to pull off" for AstraZeneca, which declined to comment.

(Pic: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)