MedImmune opens new R&D facility in Cambridge
pharmafile | October 17, 2008 | News story | Research and Development | Cambridge, MedImmune
MedImmune, AstraZeneca's biotech arm, has opened a new R&D facility in Cambridge as part of a major expansion of its European operations.
Acquired by AstraZeneca in 2007, MedImmune has been merged with another of AstraZeneca's biotech acquisitions, Cambridge Antibody Technology which it bought in 2006.
The new building is at Granta Park in Cambridge, the site established by Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT).
CAT was absorbed into MedImmune to create a unified biologicals arm, which will operate independently from AstraZeneca in the early stages of R&D.
The facility has been re-fitted with state-of-the art laboratories and will significantly increase the number of candidate drugs the company can develop each year.
AstraZeneca's ambition is for biologics to make up a quarter of the company's product portfolio by 2010.
Jane Osbourn, site leader and vice president of research at the Cambridge site, said "Today, MedImmune has one of the largest and most diverse biologics product pipelines in the world. 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 UK team plays a central role in MedImmune's global research activity."
The 92,000-square foot facility building is named in honour of Sir Aaron Klug, 1982 winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry and longstanding board member and scientific advisor to CAT.
Osbourn said the extra space would accommodate growth in clinical and early development work, and help the company to achieve a goal of one new biological agent per year by 2013.
Respiratory disease has traditionally been a focus at the site: the company's most advanced Cambridge-born programme is its anti-IL 13 drug for severe asthma, CAT-354, currently in phase II trials.
The MedImmune expansion means a diverse range of disease areas are now being explored at the site. Blood cancers are a main area of its research in oncology, including drugs for hairy cell and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Emerging diseases are also a key area of research for the company, particularly in the areas of cardiovascular and neuroscience.
Though the main focus of research will remain on monoclonal antibodies, Osbourn said the company is looking to broaden and expand its work into therapeutic proteins and peptides as therapeutic agents.
MedImmune, whose headquarters are in Maryland, employs 3,000 people worldwide. The Granta Park site will provide capacity for up to 250 employees around a dozen senior clinical positions have been created.
"The Cambridge site is now flourishing as part of MedImmune", said Jane Osbourn. "There is great expertise on the site and we are looking to grow that further."
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