AstraZeneca Plc history, profile and corporate video
AstraZeneca Plc is a global research-based biopharmaceutical company, which primarily focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology, and infectious disease. The company sells products under the brands Atacand, Crestor, Onglyza, Nexium, Entocort, Losec, Merrem/Meronem, Carbocaine, Citanest, Diprivan, Marcaine/Sensorcaine. AstraZeneca was founded on April 6, 1999, and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
HISTORY
AstraZeneca was formed on 6 April 1999 through the merger of Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca Group PLC of the UK – two companies with similar science-based cultures and a shared vision of the pharmaceutical industry.
The merger aimed to improve the combined companies’ ability to deliver long-term growth and enduring shareholder value through:
Global power & reach in sales and marketing
- Ability to deliver the potential of existing and future products through the power and reach of a combined global sales and marketing resource
- Widespread class coverage in key therapy areas, such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, due to the complementary nature of products
- Major primary care presence, particularly in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and respiratory medicine
- Leading position in a number of specialist/hospital markets, including oncology and anesthesia
Stronger R&D platform for innovation-led growth
- Substantial research and development (R&D) expenditure
- Strong combined development pipeline
- Potential for further strengthening of the pipeline by enhanced discovery and development capability through greater scale and focus on selected areas and technologies
Greater financial strategic flexibility
- Financial strength and scale to give AstraZeneca’s management greater strategic flexibility to drive long-term earnings growth
- Substantial operational efficiencies resulting in cost savings.
*Information from Forbes.com and Astrazeneca.com
**Video published on YouTube by “Bloomberg Markets and Finance“