AstraZeneca to boost US R&D with US$3.5bn investment

Tada Images / Shutterstock.com

BRITISH pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is investing US$3.5bn into expanding its research and development (R&D) operations across the US.

The company, which develop medicines for type 2 diabetes, asthma, and cancer, has R&D centres in the UK, US, and Sweden and around 17,800 employees.

A substantial part of the investment – US$2bn – will be used to create “more than a thousand new, high-skilled jobs”.

More manufacturing

The US is AstraZeneca’s largest market, representing 44% of their total revenue.

The country is the largest consumer of company’s biggest oncology treatments, including Tagrisso for non-small cell lung cancer, and Lynparza for ovarian cancer.

In R&D research, AstraZeneca is currently trialling the growth potential of the neurofibromatosis type 1 drug Koselugo, of which the US represent the largest pool of patients affected (68,000).

With the funding, the company expect to build out capacity in four main locations in the US. This includes an R&D centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a biologics manufacturing facility in Maryland, a cell therapy manufacturing capacity on the West and East Coast, and a speciality facility in Texas.

Generating more than US$46bn in revenue last year, the company said this R&D boost is part of its wider effort to increase its revenue to US$80bn by 2030.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said: “By expanding our R&D and manufacturing footprint, we aim to enhance the development of cutting-edge therapies and support the United States’ leadership in healthcare innovation.”