Sir Andrew Witty, left, and Pascal Soriot, right, are due to meet ministers on November 23

Pharmaceuticals giants want the government to plug a £1bn-a-year funding gap that will be created when Britain leaves the EU, as part of a list of demands being drawn up by big business after last week’s deal with Nissan.

The Japanese car maker said it would make two new models at its Sunderland plant — safeguarding nearly 7,000 jobs — after receiving written assurances about post-Brexit trading arrangements from business secretary Greg Clark. Other big employers from key sectors are now using Nissan’s perceived sweetheart deal as leverage to ask for their own favours.

A life sciences steering committee chaired by Sir Andrew Witty and Pascal Soriot, the chief executives of Glaxo Smith Kline and Astra Zeneca, will meet ministers on November 23. It is