AstraZeneca Expands Global Medicines Development Centre in Bengaluru

Anglo-Swedish pharma major, Astra-Zeneca, recently opened its expanded Global Medicines Development (GMD) unit in Bengaluru. The expanded site is one of nine such global sites that supports designing and conduct of clinical trials, monitoring of safety and efficacy and other regulatory management required during a product’s lifecycle.

Globally, GMD works with AstraZeneca’s two biotech units – Innovative Medicines and Early Development (IMED) and MedImmune – and the Global Portfolio and Product Strategy (GPPS) organisation to understand where there is unmet medical need, to shape AstraZeneca’s therapy area strategies from early development through to commercialisation.

The GMD unit expansion is the first from a five-year $90-mn commitment made earlier this year by the parent company. The company said the site will help India play a bigger role in its global operations. The centre will support not just India, but work done globally by the company, Ms. Elisabeth Björk VP, Global Medicines Development Unit Head for Cardiovascular, Metabolic Renal Diseases, AstraZeneca emphasised. The GMD Bengaluru team will focus on supporting AstraZeneca’s medicines, which covers treatments across a range of therapy areas, including oncology, respiratory and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. It will support 51 of AstraZeneca’s mature brands used by patients around the world.

During the last year, the Bengaluru team has recruited scientific experts in the fields of regulatory science, clinical, and patient safety, and has grown from 30 to 70 people. The expansion will see a further increase to more than 100 specialists, said Ms. Veena Rajan, GMD SiteLead Bengaluru, AstraZeneca India Pvt. Ltd.