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Bangalore,Tuesday
22 November 2005:
AstraZeneca hosted
a warm welcome to King Carl XVI Gustaf
of Sweden here today. The Royal Technology
Mission, under the patronage of His
Majesty, is on an eight-day visit
to India. The King and his entourage
spent over an hour at the Centre of
Excellence and evinced a keen interest
in the state-of-the-art laboratories
which are a powerful example of Indo-Swedish
partnership and the Company's commitment
to developing a new line of treatment
for tuberculosis - the first such
effort in 40 years. His Majesty reviewed
the exciting possibilities of research
into developing world medicine.
As a patron of The Royal Swedish
Academy of Engineering Sciences, His
Majesty participates in the Academy’s
study tours on a regular basis. The
purpose of this trip is to seek an
understanding of the opportunities
and driving forces that attract international
organizations to establish their operations
in India RTM 2005 focuses on Delhi
and Bangalore and the importance of
education and research as well as
support from public authorities.
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King Carl XVI Gustaf, along
with The Royal Technology Mission,
gathered experience and new ideas
from the research programs of
AstraZeneca, one of the world’s
leading pharmaceutical companies
committed to continued investment,
active risk management and process
improvement to ensure medicines
reach the patient stage as quickly
as possible. The company has its
corporate headquarters in the
UK, and research headquarters
in Sweden. |
The King was welcomed by Dr. T. Balganesh,
Head of Research, AstraZeneca India
Pvt. Ltd. And Mr. Bhasker Iyer, Managing
Director, AstraZeneca Pharma India
Limited, who said, “ We are indeed
honoured to have his Majesty and distinguished
members of the Royal Technology Mission
visit us here in Bangalore.”
Mr. Lars Walan, Vice President, Global
Drug Development, R&D Mölndal,
outlined the history of AZ's connection
with India in his speech "India
Calling" and said, "The
Indo-Swedish connection goes back
20 years in history and the Bangalore
R&D site is now well integrated
with 10 other R&D hubs in Sweden,
UK & North America. Our objective
here in Bangalore is to find a cure
for tuberculosis which affects millions
of people, and make this treatment
available at affordable prices in
the developing nations.”
Work at the Bangalore research facility,
which opened in June 2003, is dedicated
to finding a new therapy for TB that
will act in drug resistant disease
and reduce the complexity and/or the
duration of treatment. Today, AstraZeneca
is the only pharmaceutical company
with a research programme in India
totally dedicated to TB.
About AstraZeneca
In India, AstraZeneca’s presence
includes: AstraZeneca Pharma India
Limited (AZPIL), the Marketing Company,
with products in six major therapeutic
areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular,
Maternal Healthcare, Infection, Respiratory
& Neuroscience, and a world-class
manufacturing unit conforming to WHO
current Good Manufacturing Practices
(cGMP).
AstraZeneca India Pvt. Ltd. (AZIPL),
the Centre of Excellence established
in 1996, and an integrated part of
the AstraZeneca global R&D network,
is the only MNC in India focused on
discovering novel drugs for the treatment
of tuberculosis A new, state-of-the-art
Process R&D facility, will be
operational by mid 2006 at the same
site.
AstraZeneca Research Foundation India
(AZREFI) supports education and technological
innovation by organising seminars
and symposia.
For more information, please visit
www.astrazenecaindia.com or contact:
Ms. Nalini Shekar/ Ms.Nina Sharma
- R&PM:Edelman Cell: 9341921553
/ 9341289363
Email: r_shekhar@vsnl.com / Nina.Sharma@rnpmc.com
Ms.Anjali Chandavarkar- AstraZeneca
Pharma India Ltd. Cell: 9845265338
Email:anjali.chandavarkar@astrazeneca.com
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