MedImmune Expands R&D Capacity with New Res...
CAMBRIDGE, England, October 16 /PRNewswire/ --
- Building Named After 1982 Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry, Sir Aaron
Klug -
MedImmune today announced the opening of a new, biologics research and
development (R&D) facility in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. Named after the
1982 Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry, the Aaron Klug Building is a major
expansion of MedImmune's existing Granta Park site, further cements the
region as a major R&D centre for the company, and provides additional
laboratory space for MedImmune's growing scientific staff in Cambridge.
The Aaron Klug Building is a 92,000-square-foot facility containing
state-of-the-art laboratories. The facility provides MedImmune with
capacity to significantly increase the number of candidate drugs that it can
develop each year in order to meet R&D goals.
The expansion forms a key part of MedImmune's growth strategy. Following
its acquisition by AstraZeneca in June 2007, MedImmune was consolidated with
the former Cambridge Antibody Technology business, along with other areas of
biological research being conducted elsewhere within AstraZeneca. Now as
AstraZeneca's global biologics unit, MedImmune plays a significant role in
AstraZeneca's strategic growth plans -- the aim is to deliver an average of
one new biologic product per year from 2013.
Jane Osbourn, site leader and vice president of research, Cambridge,
said: "Today, MedImmune has one of the largest and most diverse biologics
product pipelines in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. We want to
maximise our potential to develop new and better medicines, so adequate space
and resource for R&D is a real priority for us.
"Our experience and expertise in Cambridge means the U.K. team plays a
central role in MedImmune's global research activity. The Aaron Klug Building
is critical to allowing us to fulfill this role and to achieve our goal of
significantly increasing our drug development capabilities," Osbourn added.
The new facility is being inaugurated today with the unveiling of a
commemorative plaque by honoured guest, Sir Aaron Klug.
The Aaron Klug Building forms part of MedImmune's wider expansion of its
European operations. Its opening follows the recent refurbishment and
expansion of one of the company's major production sites in Nijmegen in the
Netherlands, where products such as Synagis(R) (palivizumab) and Ethyol(R)
(amifostine) are prepared for distribution. Completed in early 2008, the
newly refurbished site is capable of producing up to 10 discrete products
each year, equating to 6.5 million vials.
About MedImmune
MedImmune is a leading innovation-focused biotechnology company whose
mission it is to provide better medicines to patients, new medical options
for physicians and rewarding careers to employees. Dedicated to advancing
science and medicine to help people live better lives, the company is focused
on infection, oncology, respiratory disease and inflammation, cardiovascular/
gastrointestinal disease and neuroscience. Headquartered in Gaithersburg,
Maryland, MedImmune has approximately 3,000 employees worldwide and is the
wholly owned biologics business for AstraZeneca plc (LSE: AZN.L, NYSE: AZN).
For more information, visit MedImmune's website at www.medimmune.com.
Web site: http://www.medimmune.com
Latest directors dealings
- 1 day ago Close Brothers Group
- 1 day ago Savannah Energy
- 1 day ago Mid Wynd International Inv Trust
- 1 day ago Dillistone Group
- 1 day ago SSP Group