AstraZeneca, a major international healthcare entity, has chalked out plans to scale-up their operations in India with the expansion of their Process R&D group in Bangalore. The company has purchased the land measuring 14,200 sq. meters in 'Avishkar,' its existing campus. The new facility can accommodate 50 more scientists along with the support staff of Process R&D. The company is planning to invest around $ 5 million and the project is likely to operational by the end of 2005.

Kumud Sampath, president of AstraZeneca R&D Bangalore said that the co-location of the Discovery and Process R&D scientists will help AstraZeneca to maximize the scientific interactions and enable shared use of the R&D infrastructure. AstraZeneca R&D, India is a part of the AZ Global R&D organization. With the new facility, the India operations of AstraZeneca will now include the Discovery Phase R&D, Process R&D, Manufacturing facility and Marketing Division (ISMO) at Bangalore.

Venkataramanan Associates, the architectural firm involved in building the R&D centre a year ago, have been chosen to handle this new project. The design of the new facility will be fully integrated into the current R&D facility, and will provide more scope for future expansion.

AstraZeneca is engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals. It is a leading pharmaceutical company with healthcare sales of over $18.8 billion.