AstraZeneca is to invest £120m in a new manufacturing facility in Macclesfield, Cheshire, to continue the production of injectable cancer treatment drugs.
The investment will secure 300 jobs manufacturing the Zoladex drug, and will see construction beginning this year, focusing on replacing existing high-tech facilities on the site until 2016.
In March, the pharmaceuticals giant announced it was closing its Alderley Park research and development facility in Cheshire as well as its global headquarters in Paddington, London, to open a new £330m Cambridge campus.
Executive vice president David Smith said: “Having considered a number of options globally, we believe it is the right choice to build the new facility in Macclesfield, which has been home to Zoladex manufacturing – and the expertise that goes along with it – for many years.
“This investment is a further signal of our long term commitment to the UK, and to the North West.”
Chancellor of the exchequer and MP for Tatton George Osborne said: “This investment could have gone anywhere around the world – the fact it has come to Macclesfield shows what a superb site it is. It comes on top of the hundreds of new jobs being created on the Alderley Park site by new business after the difficult news there earlier this year. It is a real vote of confidence in East Cheshire.”
chris.berkin@estatesagzette.com
