AstraZeneca opens new

Published: 21-Nov-2001


One of Europe's most technically advanced pharmaceutical r&d research facilities has been opened by AstraZeneca at its Charnwood site, near Loughborough in the UK. The £45m (US$65m) state-of-the-art facility is dedicated to providing supplies of potential new medicines for worldwide clinical trials and to developing the manufacturing processes required for eventual transfer to large-scale production.

Opening the building, Lord Hunt, parliamentary under-secretary of health department, said, 'Major research facilities like this offer potential for future treatments that will make major improvements to quality of life, not just in the UK but worldwide.

'The substantial investment made by AstraZeneca is an important addition to the UK's research and development base.'

The building is the latest addition to the £250m (US$360m) investment in scientific facilities at the company's Loughborough medicines research and development site.

It replaces outdated facilities and meets or exceeds the current and anticipated future requirements of worldwide medicine and other licensing agencies.

A total of 1,200 staff work at the site, which focuses on discovering and developing new treatments for respiratory and inflammatory diseases, including asthma, rhinitis, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.

'These new facilities will improve AstraZeneca's ability to develop, manufacture and dispense promising new medicines for worldwide clinical trials,' said Dr Tom McKillop, chief executive of AstraZeneca.

You may also like