What has takeover target AstraZeneca done for the UK?
As the heads of Pfizer and AstraZeneca appear in front of MPs, Professor Ray Hill argues that the UK economy, science base and skills have all benefited from AstraZeneca’s work.
Video above: While the bosses and parliamentarians battle it out, what about those at the coalface of scientific research and development? Science Editor Tom Clarke reports from Cambridge.
What has AstraZeneca done for UK patients?
Many lives have been saved due to medicines developed by AstraZeneca, including:
- The first ever beta-blocker, propranolol, which has been used to treat a range of conditions including high blood pressure, anxiety and panic
- Tamoxifen, a hormone therapy used to treat breast cancer
- Anastrozole, which is also called Arimidex, a hormone therapy for breast cancer
- Fulvestrant, which is also known as Faslodex, another type of hormone therapy used to treat breast cancerGefitinib, which is also known as Iressa, which is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer
- Goserelin, which is also called Zoladex, a hormone therapy used to treat prostate cancer
- Bicalutamide, which is also called Casodex, a hormone therapy used to treat prostate cancer
What has AstraZeneca done for the UK economy?
The UK pharmaceutical industry contributes more to the UK economy than the motor vehicle industry. The UK currently has two world class pharmaceutical companies still based on our shores: AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
AstraZeneca is slightly bigger than GSK globally, while GSK wins out over AstraZeneca in terms of its activity in the UK. It is important that this competition and balance continues within the industry.
In addition, according to the company’s most recent figures, AstraZeneca’s total contribution to wealth creation in the UK was £3.8bn. Its medicines accounted for around 2.3 per cent of the total UK exports, with a total value of almost £7bn.
What has AstraZeneca done for UK science?
In 2011, AstraZeneca reported that its investment in UK science was a huge £1bn a year. It is thanks to this scale of investment that the UK has been a world-leader in medicines research and development.
The British Pharmacological Society and its partners believe that the loss of an independent AstraZeneca would put this position under threat as the UK would be dependent on a single company, GSK.
AstraZeneca is also home to one of the UK’s Nobel prizes. In 1988, James Black received the Nobel prize in medicine for “discoveries of important principles for drug treatment”. Black was a physician from a Scottish coal-mining family who described himself as “one untrained in experimental science who picked it up along the way”, and who became a pioneer in drug discovery at the AstraZeneca facility at Alderley Park in Cheshire, where a replica of the prize is on display today.
In December 2013, AstraZeneca was one of only four organisations to win recognition in a special vote by MPs, peers and senior members of the scientific community.
The ballot took place as part of the “Putting UK pharmacology on the map” initiative, launched by the British Pharmacological Society to raise awareness of the UK’s achievements in the discovery and development of new medicines. AstraZeneca was recognised for important advances made at Alderley Park during its 40-year history.
What has AstraZeneca done for UK skills?
AstraZeneca currently supports training and education of UK scientists, from undergraduates through to leaders in research. For example, many undergraduate students have spent a year of their course at AstraZeneca facilities in the UK, gaining valuable experience and techniques.
Even more importantly, AstraZeneca is a repository of those skills that are only learned whilst working in industry and is an important collaborator for those in academic basic and clinical research. It is vital that this source of key skills is not lost, given its capacity to retain and develop the UK’s world class talent.
What has AstraZeneca done for women in science?
Financial support from AstraZeneca gives the British Pharmacological Society an opportunity every year to recognise its many female leaders and role models. The society established the AstraZeneca prize for women in pharmacology in 2009 for women whose achievements have contributed significantly to our understanding of a particular field through excellence in research.
Professor Ray Hill is president emeritus of the British Pharmacological Society