AstraZeneca Unveils $1B Research Facility To Advance Gene-Editing

AstraZeneca recently unveiled a $1 billion state-of-the-art research and development facility to advance next-generation therapeutics, including nucleotide-based gene-editing and cell therapies.

The Discovery Centre (DISC) in Cambridge, United Kingdom, will include advanced robotics, high-throughput screening, and artificial intelligence-driven technology. In total, the facility will accommodate over 2,200 research scientists.  

Located within the Cambridge biomedical campus, the University of Cambridge, research institutions, and various biotech companies will promote a culture of open partnership and innovation. 

“Our ambition today is to not only unveil a building, but to also drive the next wave of scientific innovation. Our new Discovery Centre in Cambridge raises the bar for sustainable R&D and global collaboration across our industry,” Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said in the announcement. 

“It will allow us to break new boundaries in the understanding of disease biology, bring life-changing medicines to patients and power the next stage of our company’s growth,” Soriot continued. 

Currently, AstraZeneca has over 200 active collaborations in the UK region and more than 2,000 worldwide across academia, biotech, and industry.

The company has three strategic research and development centers, including Gaithersburg, Maryland, in the greater Washington, DC region, and Gothenburg in Sweden. 

The DISC will add to AstraZeneca’s research and development presence in over 40 countries worldwide, including its other strategic centers in Sweden and the US and facilities in China and Japan.

Overall, the center will further partnerships, develop the next generation of science leaders, and accelerate the company’s industry-leading levels of productivity. 

AstraZeneca invests more than $7 billion in research and development globally every year to deliver one of the most productive pipelines in the industry. Most of the investments take part in the UK. 

In September, AstraZeneca and VaxEquity collaborated to discover, develop, and commercialize a self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) therapeutics platform. 

The long-term research collaboration aims to optimize VaxEquity’s saRNA platform, developed at Imperial College London, and apply it to advance novel therapeutic programs. 

AstraZeneca will support VaxEquity with research and development funding. VaxEquity could receive development, approval, and sales-based milestones totaling nearly $195 million if AstraZeneca chooses to advance any of the programs into its pipeline.