AstraZeneca invests $120M in UK PR&D site

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca has announced plans to invest $120.0 million in a new process research and Development laboratory at its Macclesfield, Cheshire, site, adding to its significant investment in the UK over recent years, the firm notes. The PR&D facility, which is expected to be complete in mid-2009, represents the largest single investment to date at this particular location.

This facility will house multi-disciplinary teams of scientists and specialists involved in chemistry, analytical, process engineering and project management. The building will accommodate around 170 people, most of whom are employed already by the company, and could house a further 50 within pre-planned expansion areas.

As an important part of its global strategy in strengthening its pipeline of new products, AstraZeneca says the laboratory will focus primarily on the company's emerging portfolio in oncology and infection, in addition to new potential treatments in the area of neuroscience, linking with other major R&D facilities in Alderley Park, Cheshire, and Boston and Wilmington in the USA.