AstraZeneca has opened a new global strategic research and development (R&D) facility in Massachusetts, US, as part of an investment of more than $1bn in the state.
The 18-storey, 570,000ft² facility at 290 Binney Street features ten floors of interconnecting laboratories equipped with continuous automation, robotics, and agentic AI.
Combined with the company's genomic medicine facility at 100 Binney Street, the site located in Kendall Square, Cambridge will accommodate around 2,000 researchers and scientists.
The expansion will increase AstraZeneca's Massachusetts workforce by more than 50% in the coming years.
Research teams at the Kendall Square centre will focus on developing therapies across several disease areas, including breast cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), metabolic disease, obesity, oncology, and rare conditions, alongside work in biologics and cell therapy.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said: “Kendall Square is a leading innovation ecosystem, and it is one of the key locations where AstraZeneca will discover the next generation of scientific breakthroughs.
“Our new R&D centre not only reflects AstraZeneca’s long-term commitment to Massachusetts but also our belief in delivering US-led innovation to patients around the world.”
The Massachusetts project forms part of a wider $50bn investment programme by AstraZeneca in the US, where the business has operated in the state for more than 75 years.
AstraZeneca currently employs over 25,000 staff across 24 corporate, commercial, manufacturing, and research sites nationwide, supporting nearly 100,000 jobs.
The Kendall Square opening expands AstraZeneca's global research network across over 40 countries, including its other primary US strategic R&D centre located in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Prior to this, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo partnered with Summit Therapeutics to explore the potential of their co-developed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan), alongside Summit’s in-licensed candidate, ivonescimab.
