AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company, has announced its intention to open a new R&D center in Barcelona, where it already has a research center for rare diseases.
The estimated investment is 800 million euros over the next five years.
The company seeks to develop new therapies for cancer and respiratory diseases, among others, and to leverage digital technology and data science to do so.
Construction of the new center, which is expected to create about 1,000 highly specialized jobs, began last year at the site of AstraZeneca’s rare disease center.
The new center will focus on leading international projects in areas such as oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism. Also in respiratory diseases and immunology, vaccines and immunotherapies and rare diseases.
New wide-ranging research center in Barcelona
The company’s decision to invest in Barcelona and Spain is a sign of its confidence in the country, according to Rick R. Suárez, president of AstraZeneca in Spain.
The center will be the multinational’s first R&D center covering its main therapeutic areas.
The multinational pharmaceutical company began work at this new center with the initial hiring of 50 workers.
In fact, it is still looking for different scientific profiles, from pharamaceutical, medical and biologists to mathematicians, engineers and data analysis specialists.
The R&D center will be built in the Catalan capital, expanding the company’s existing hub of excellence there.
For the purposes they seek, the company will expand the contracted area in the current offices, located in the Pedrables Centre.
Since their start-up at the end of last year, they have occupied only one floor and will now add two more.
Gonzalo de Miquel, vice-president of Alexion and head of the Barcelona center, pointed out that AstraZeneca’s decision to be in the city will allow them to collaborate with national and European reference centers.
AstraZeneca’s investment in the Catalan capital
AstraZeneca has already committed €32 million to the Barcelona offices since opening the center for Alexion, AstraZeneca’s rare disease division.
In addition, the R&D hub will represent the largest investment ever made in R&D in Catalonia.
Pere Aragonès, President of the Generalitat, stressed that this investment will strengthen Spain’s leading position in the multinational pharmaceutical company. The number of clinical trials conducted in hospitals in the country will also increase.
In 2022, there were about 300 clinical trials underway, with about 4,500 patients involved. This figure will increase significantly in the coming years, according to De Miquel.
AstraZeneca has also invested six million euros in a research program at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) to develop new personalized cancer therapies.
