Our scientists share a common goal: getting new life-changing medicines to patients as quickly, and safely as possible.
AstraZeneca is one of the world’s leading investors in pharmaceutical research and development; last year alone, the company spent $3.4 billion on R&D.
Our R&D vision is to combine world-class science and innovation to discover, develop, and deliver medicines that make a difference and improve patients' lives. As a result, we are committed to delivering more new, medically important and commercially successful products to the market every year. We also look at all the ways our existing medicines can be used or improved to get the most benefit for patients. It’s all part of our commitment to innovation, one of our core values.
AstraZeneca’s global R&D organization operates 11 R&D sites around the world, including three in North America:
Our research and development efforts are loosely organized around three primary functions:
- Discovery
- Development
- External collaborations
Discovery
In Discovery, our more than 5,000 highly skilled scientists use state-of-the-art technology to identify high quality candidate drugs (CDs) Our scientists work across boundaries to exchange ideas, share best practice and make the most of the efficiencies that global collaboration offers.
Our North American sites focus on:
- Central nervous system (CNS) therapies
- Infectious diseases
- Cancer
- Inflammatory and neuropathic pain, the two most common types of pain
Development
The more than 6,000 people in our AstraZeneca development organization guide potential new medicines through the pharmaceutical development process. They work globally in therapy area-led product teams that bring together all the relevant functional skills and experience needed for the robust, rapid progress of new medicines.
External collaborations
In today’s world of rapid scientific and technological advance, no company can rely exclusively on its own discovery and development. We work with leading academic centers and biotechnology companies with skills that complement our own in-house R&D capabilities.
Presently, more than 1,700 collaborations and agreements are in place. As a result, we have broad access to advanced technologies in biomedical research, including genomics, bioinformatics, chemical libraries, high throughput screening and product delivery systems.
Read more about Partnering
A number of strategically important areas have been identified to enable us to become even better prepared to meet future challenges
Learn about AstraZeneca’s global R&D function on our international Web site.
