AstraZeneca plc is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biologics company that was founded in April of 1999. Since then, it has become the world’s ninth-largest pharmaceutical company measured by prescription drug sales. Headquartered in London, England, AstraZeneca has operations in over 100 countries and employs nearly 50,000 people throughout the world. With a market cap of $92.4 billion (the sixth-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange), AstraZeneca has also made a number of corporate acquisitions including Cambridge Antibody Technology in 2006, Medlmmune in 2007, and Spirogen in 2013. Read on to find out five things you might not know about AstraZeneca.
5. How AstraZeneca Formed
In 1998, Europe’s corporate landscape was ripe with intense competitive pressure, leading to numerous big-time mergers between competing companies in an attempt to level the playing field. Numerous companies came out on top, including the newly formed AstraZeneca in 1999. The fusion between Swedish pharmaceutical company, Astra AB, and U.K.-based Zeneca Group plc was one of the largest European mergers ever.
4. The Five Main Areas of Focus
Since the company’s inception, AstraZeneca has continued to focus on five core areas of research while still expanding and exploring various other areas of the pharmaceutical marketplace. The five main areas are cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, oncology, and local and general anesthesia. AstraZeneca also currently has a large portfolio of products for major diseases including cancer, infection, neuroscience, and inflammation.
3. How Half of the Company Got its Name
Formed by a demerger between two pharmaceutical and agrochemical businesses, British multinational pharmaceutical company Zeneca plc (one half of the AstraZeneca merger in 1999) got its name from a branding consultancy firm. Having been instructed by the company’s chief executive, Sir David Barnes, to find a memorable name that wasn’t associated with any other companies nor vulgar in any language, the name Zeneca was invented.
2. TransCelerate BioPharma Inc.
Along with nine other major U.S. and European pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca helped to create TransCelerate BioPharma Inc., a nonprofit organization with the goal to help accelerate the development of new medicines, advance innovation in research and development, and improve patient safety. The nonprofit, launched in September 2012 and headquartered in Philadelphia, is the largest organization of its kind.
1. Social Media Initiative
In 2012, AstraZeneca launched a new science blog titled LabTalk, an online blog and forum for scientists within the company to discuss cutting-edge science and innovative research, ideas, and approaches. At the time, Pfizer was the only other pharmaceutical company to promote through its own blog. Both companies helped lead the charge in social media, resulting in other pharmaceutical companies launching communication initiatives to engage consumers.
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