AstraZeneca restructures global R&D
pharmafile | March 19, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, R&D
AstraZeneca is restructuring its global operations in a bid to improve the productivity of its R&D operations.
The firm is to create a new R&D centre in the UK (in Cambridge), and add to existing sites in the US (Gaithersburg, Maryland) and Sweden (Mölndal near Gothenburg) by 2016.
The £330 million Cambridge facility will become AstraZeneca’s global HQ, usurping London, with a workforce of 2,000 – but it does mean 700 jobs will be cut elsewhere in the UK.
All of the company’s small molecule and biologics R&D activity will be concentrated in this trio of locations, which are close to renowned clusters of bioscience academics and entrenpreneurs.
The idea is that this proximity to excellence in the field will foster collaborations which will help AstraZeneca minimise development failures and maximise drug discoveries.
“Cambridge, which boasts strong links with London-based research institutions, is a world-renowned bioscience hotspot that rivals the likes of San Francisco and Boston,” insisted Soriot.
The global restructure is aimed at fattening up a pipeline which has looked worryingly thin for some time, and was a key factor in the departure of former chief executive David Brennan.
The radical re-think is the first real sign from Brennan’s successor, Pascal Soriot – poached from Roche last year – that the company has a bold plan in place to shore up future profits.
As with many other large pharma companies, job losses have become part of the fabric in recent times: just over a year ago, AstraZeneca announced it was to axe 7,300 sales and R&D jobs by 2014.
It also axed 12,600 jobs between 2007 and 2009 and, in an earlier redundancy exercise begun in 2010, planned to cut yet another 9,000 staff by next year.
AstraZeneca’s biologics arm MedImmune is already based in Cambridge and Soriot says the proposed new investment is a ‘clear signal’ of the company’s long-term commitment to the UK.
He praised the government’s Life Sciences Strategy and the ‘meaningful policies’ it has put in place to encourage investment in biopharma R&D.
There will be losers, of course, with 700 jobs lost across all UK sites.
R&D will no longer be carried out at Alderley Park in Cheshire, with 1,600 out of 2,900 employees there either being relocated to Cambridge or to the firm’s Macclesfield facility or sites overseas.
“I recognise that our plans will have a significant impact on many of our people at our sites in Cheshire and London and the surrounding communities,” Soriot said.
“We are fully committed to treating all our employees with respect and fairness as we navigate this period of change,” he added.
At least 700 non-R&D roles are expected to remain at Alderley Park, AstraZeneca says, and the current London HQ will close in 2016.
The proposals are subject to consultation ‘where appropriate’, the firm said.
Gaithersburg in Maryland is MedImmune’s HQ and the primary location for AstraZeneca’s biologics activities. It will now also house much of the company’s US-based global medicines development activities for small and large molecules.
Mölndal in Sweden will continue with a primary focus on small molecules.
Adam Hill
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