AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Complex, Södertälje, Sweden

The project is a new pharmaceuticals plant at Snackviken in Södartälje in Sweden. It is owned by AstraZeneca, which was formed by a merger of the Swedish Astra and the British Zeneca. This was the site of Astra's headquarters until its merger with Zeneca, when the headquarters were moved to London.

The investment has been made necessary by the growing demand for the company's Turbuler range of asthmatic inhalers. The present facilities in Sweden have 450 employees, with another 200 at a facility in Dunkirk in France.

The pharmaceuticals complex has considerable economic importance for the surrounding area. The Turbuler plant is part of an investment programme which is expected to provide roughly 1,000 jobs over a period of four years to 2005. AstraZeneca has long been an important employer in the region, through its Astra side. The merger might have created some fears about continuing investment in the area, but these are likely to prove groundless.

SNACKVIKEN PLANT EXPANSION

The new Snackviken plant expansion is scheduled to go into commercial production at the end of 2002. The project saw construction on the new plant begin in 2000. The Snackviken project involves an investment of about $93 million, which is part of a wider $600 million investment programme throughout the company.

The new plant will manufacture the asthma treatments Pulmicort and Oxis, as well as future products in AstraZeneca's respiratory pipeline. Oxis is long-acting beta2-agonist with a fast onset of action, for once- or twice-daily maintenance therapy of asthma, in addition to anti-inflammatory treatment with inhaled glucocorticosteroids. Pulmicort is an inhaled anti-inflammatory glucocorticosteroid, primarily for once- or twice-daily maintenance treatment of asthma. The Turbular product is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-free, multidose dry-powder inhaler for asthmatic treatment.

Simultaneously with expanding the Turbuler production, AstraZeneca has shelved plans to build a new tablet plant in Gartuna (also in Södartälje). The plant was to have been completed in 2001 at a cost of SEK 1.4 billion ($162 million). Although the groundwork for the project had been completed, further work was suspended in February 2000. The reason was a the decision of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA to allow Astra Zeneca bypass a stage in the production of Plendil ingredient metoprolol. This has created spare capacity at the group's plant in nearby Snackviken which is more economical for the company to use. A higher rate of capacity utilisation in the company's existing plants is cheaper than building an entirely new plant.

The company also ordered a pause on the development of its R&D facilities at the site. The company is known to be cutting R&D jobs, albeit in anticipation of later expansion. Since the new manufacturing plants are financed from the company's own resources, this may create a further incentive to pause further development.