Home  Media Press releases 2004
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| 16 March 2004 | 2004-03-16T00:00:00.0000000-00:00 |
| ASTRAZENECA ANNOUNCES LATEST PHASE OF UK £1 BILLION INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
AstraZeneca has announced two major investments in the UK with the imminent opening of major new facilities in Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, and additional investment to support the development of its research site in Charnwood, Loughborough, Leicestershire. These latest developments will mean that AstraZeneca’s investment in the UK (from 1999 and planned until 2006), will have approached a potential £1 billion, with the creation of well over 550 new science related jobs. | Representing an investment of over £58 million, Alderley Park’s new Centre for Advanced Lead Discovery will help AstraZeneca’s search for new and better medicines. It will include the opening of innovative compound management and high throughput screening facilities to assist with the drug discovery process. As one of nine AstraZeneca Research & Development (R&D) centres worldwide, Alderley Park is the Company’s largest site, currently employing over 4,800 people. The new Centre for Advanced Lead Discovery will be officially inaugurated at Alderley Park on 24th March and will provide world-class facilities for around 150 scientists and support staff.
Another £16 million investment by AstraZeneca at its Charnwood site will enable scientists to enhance their early discovery and safety assessment work in a range of different disease areas, providing a state of the art building for up to 75 scientists in the future. AstraZeneca currently employs over 1,200 people at the Charnwood site and work on the new facilities will begin in July 2004, with completion scheduled for early 2006.
Sir Tom McKillop, Chief Executive of AstraZeneca, said: "Although AstraZeneca is a global company, the UK is a crucial base for our R&D and we continue to invest in British science. By 2006, we will have invested a further £1 billion and created over 550 new science related jobs.”
The latest investments at the Alderley Park and Charnwood sites form part of a major £1 billion UK investment programme by AstraZeneca over an eight year period. The Company has committed over £350 million in capital expenditure investments for the North West and East Midlands (Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Charnwood and Avlon, near Bristol) over the past five years. In addition, the company has spent over £310 million in smaller projects to upgrade, improve and refresh its existing facilities and infrastructure in the UK. A further £325 million expenditure on capital and modernisation projects is planned over the next three years.
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with healthcare sales of over $18.8 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology, cardiovascular, neuroscience and respiratory products. The company currently employs over 11,600 people at 11 R&D centres in seven countries, including the UK, Sweden, the US, Canada, France, India and Japan.
Media Enquiries:
Heather Derrick (Charnwood site): Tel: +44 1509 645042
Chris Dalton (Alderley Park site): Tel: +44 1625 513010
Edel McCaffrey: Tel: +44 207 3045034
Steve Brown: Tel: +44 207 3045033
Notes to Editors:
· AstraZeneca’s Alderley Park site focuses on cancer research and enabling technologies, together with research into cardiovascular disease (including diabetes and obesity) and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis.
· Work at AstraZeneca’s Charnwood site is focused on finding new medicines for respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, as well as inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis
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