AstraZeneca first established a research presence in the Boston area in 1995, ahead of many competitors, King notes, and the company first moved to its state-of-the-art research facility in 2000, which it expanded in 2003. Late last year, the company reshaped its disease area focus to maximize long-term competitiveness, withdrawing from the areas of hypertension, functional gastrointestinal disorders, inflammatory bowel diseases, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, addiction, insomnia and stroke—and to concentrate on diabetes and obesity, infection, inhalation projects, analgesia and oncology.
R&D Boston's research focus is a key part of that new strategy. Infection is one of the company's key growth areas, King says, and oncology continues to be a high research priority—and the expansion of the Waltham facility adds additional muscle to 16 research and development facilities located in eight countries. Construction of the 132,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to conclude by mid-2009. Upon completion, the total size of the AstraZeneca research facility will be 382,000 square feet.
"AstraZeneca wants to be world class in our chosen therapeutic areas and we believe that this can be achieved by having a stronger presence in the Boston area, which has a tremendous pool of resources, including some of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world," King says. "As such, R&D Boston is highly regarded from within the company as a priority R&D site. This investment will provide additional resources for our scientists who are tackling more complex diseases than ever before."
This person does not yet have a bio.View Full Profile
