AZ confirms Macclesfield plan but says “wait to see” Brexit strategy unchanged

By Gareth Macdonald

- Last updated on GMT

AstraZeneca's Macclesfield campus (source AstraZeneca)
AstraZeneca's Macclesfield campus (source AstraZeneca)

Related tags United kingdom European union

AstraZeneca has said it will wait to see how Brexit negotiations progress before deciding whether to make mid-to-large scale manufacturing investments in the UK.

On Monday the Guardian​ and the Financial Times​ reported AstraZeneca was poised to announce an investment at a plant in Macclesfield where it makes the cancer drug Zoladex (goserelin).

Both publications contrasted the news with CEO Pascal Soriot’s recent statement that AstraZeneca would “wait to see” what the post-Brexit landscape looks like before upping UK capacity.

An AstraZeneca spokesman confirmed the Macclesfield investment, but told us it does not indicate the firm’s plan has changed.

It’s not about capacity or production​” he said, adding “this is really a routine part of our ongoing UK investment and will deliver improvements to the Macclesfield operation​.”

He also stressed there had been “Absolutely no change on our stance.”

As we’ve said previously, we will wait to see what the post-BREXIT environment looks like, or at least how the government negotiations progress, before making any decisions on future mid to large scale investments in the UK​.”

The latest round of the negotiations between the European Union (EU) and the UK began this week.

Improvements

In addition to Zoladex, AstraZeneca’s Macclesfield campus also manufactures the delivery device​ for the product.

The facility also manufactures, formulates and packages a range of other drugs according to the spokesman, who told us it produces “1700 different types of packs exported to over 100 countries​.”

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