AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant, Wuxi, China

In early 2001 AstraZeneca completed the inauguration of a new pharmaceutical plant in the Wuxi region of northeastern China in Jiangsu province near Shanghai. The Shanghai region of China was selected, as it is the fastest growing region of China in an economic sense and this is where Astra Zeneca China has established its headquarters. The facility in Wuxi has enabled AstraZeneca to locate its Chinese manufacturing activities in the area to fully exploit market opportunities.

CHINESE PHARMACEUTICALS MARKET

China, with its total population of over one billion, is still seen as a new market for AstraZeneca. It is expected to develop into the world's largest pharmaceutical market by 2010, thanks to a high level of investment and a vibrant economy in the region. This has led to many of the multinational pharmaceutical giants hurrying to set up production on mainland China, hoping to gain a market share of such a big and fast growing pharmaceutical market.

AstraZeneca is already established in China, and for the company to remain a leading player in the region it was felt investment in a new factory was required. This investment has continued since the Wuxi plant first opened in 2001.

THE NEW PHARMACEUTICAL PLANT

Approximately $134m was invested in the manufacturing plant at the Wuxi site. The investment included buildings and machinery and the plant was completed in the year 2000 and subsequently started operations in 2001. The Wuxi site is the largest manufacturing investment of AstraZeneca in Asia. The site covers 96,000m², with construction floor space of 36,000m². Over 80% of the products that AstraZeneca sells in China are manufactured in Wuxi.

In April 2006 AstraZeneca celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Wuxi site opening. At the celebration ceremony a new $3.8m packaging line was inaugurated, which will increase the annual capacity of the plant by 40 million packages.

Steen Kroyer, Chairman of AstraZeneca China, said: "China is the most important emerging market for AstraZeneca and holds the key to our future success. Wuxi site is a crucial part of our business in China. We will invest $35m in the site over the next five years to increase capacity to meet the demands of the local market. This is part of our commitment that AstraZeneca is 'in China, for China'."

INNOVATION CENTRE

In March 2007 AstraZeneca announced Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park as the initial base for its new Innovation Centre China (ICC). The ICC, announced in May 2006 as part of a larger $100m R&D investment package, is the primary focus of AstraZeneca's latest investment in China. The Centre will focus on the benefit and value of innovative medicines for Chinese patients, initially concentrating on cancer through the development of knowledge about Chinese patients, biomarkers and genetics (translational medicine).

In broad terms, translational medicine (translational science) is defined as the application of basic scientific research for the direct benefit of patients. The start of construction work at the site is an important milestone in establishing a dedicated AstraZeneca research presence in China and the company’s ambitions of having a strong R&D presence in the region.

The facility will open in mid-2009 and will provide a base to build capabilities and skills in China prior to the establishment of a permanent state-of-the-art site. AstraZeneca has already initiated a comprehensive search for a permanent location for the ICC. The ICC will feature state-of-the-art biomedical informatics capabilities and advanced IS/IT support.

The centre will employ more than 70 preclinical scientists and physicians who will progress both early and later-stage drug research projects. In addition, AstraZeneca will expand its clinical research capabilities and has been looking to increase the number of scientific collaborations with local Chinese organisations. In 2006 AstraZeneca signed a three-year deal worth $14m with Wuxi Pharmatech for Compound Collection Synthesis and high throughput screening and also has a collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University on the genetics of schizophrenia.

In 2008 the Wuxi Pharmatech agreement was extended to "further expand AstraZeneca's global compound collection". Wuxi will produce over 1 million compounds per year for screening against disease target assays. The outsourcing of R&D and development work is becoming more and more popular among big pharma companies looking to cut costs.

One of Astra Zeneca's recent successes is the licensing of a new antibiotic for skin infections in the Chinese market, called Cubicin.

ELECTRO DE-IONISATION AND E-CELL

Perhaps the most interesting equipment in the plant is an E-Cell used to process the water. E-Cell systems are designed to remove ions from process water using conventional ion exchange resins, but with a key difference. Applying an electrical current across the bed forces the continual migration of contaminant ions from the feed water into the concentrate stream, purifying the water. This process requires no regeneration chemicals and produces no hazardous waste stream.

This EDI system features a modular robust design that handles the flow rate demands of industrial applications. It has the ability to benefit virtually every pure water application. It substantially reduces the chemical infrastructure needed, maintaining water quality in excess of 16 MOhm/cm.

Electro de-ionisation is an effective method of cleaning water, without the chemicals that are needed in normal ion-exchange technology. Up until now, however, this technology has been expensive for small users. Electro de-ionisation (EDI) is now becoming more commonly used in industry, thanks to reduced investment costs due to the introduction of E-Cell, the latest product in de-ionisation technology.

However, EDI uses the same basic type of filter material as in conventional ion-exchange technology. EDI, rather than using chemicals, uses an electric current to continuously regenerate the filter material.

EXPANSION AT WUXI

The manufacturing centre at Wuxi is constantly being improved and one of the latest projects is the expansion of the filling and freeze drying facilities at the plant. The project, worth SK13m (€2.1m, £1.4m), was started in March 2008 by Pharmadule AB.

Pharmadule was responsible for the installation of the original fill and freeze drying facilities at the plant in 2000. These were installed in a modular fashion in case there was a need for expansion.

The expansion is scheduled to be completed and commissioned by the end of 2008. The short timescale is allowed since 90% of the construction work for the expansion will be completed at the Pharmadule facility in Sweden and the new equipment delivered as a module to be integrated into the existing facility.

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