Bangalore March 22

AstraZeneca's newly commissioned process R&D laboratory in Bangalore will play a key role in the development of its new drug portfolio, in particular the tuberculosis drug coming out of India, according to its top officials.

The PR&D lab built at $ 15 million was launched by the company CEO, Mr David Brennan, on Wednesday; it is the fourth such for the company and the first outside Europe; two are in the UK and one in Sweden.

It will grow from the current 40 to 75 scientists soon.

Dr Jan Lundberg, Executive Vice-President, Discovery Research, said, "This investment is not the end."

Dr David Haywood, Global Vice-President, Global Process R&D, said the Bangalore group could later develop outsourcing capabilities for large-scale laboratory work in India. According to Dr Sudhir Nambiar, Director of the new lab, it will train pharma-biotech students in process safety.

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