AstraZeneca is one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies, with its global headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in England. Founded in 1999 through the merger of Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca Group of the United Kingdom, the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AZN) and on Nasdaq, and employs approximately 90,000 people across more than 100 countries. Cambridge functions not merely as a corporate address but as the centre of the company's worldwide research and early development capability, hosting thousands of scientists working across discovery biology, chemistry, and translational medicine.
The company's research strategy concentrates on three main therapy area clusters: oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disease (CVRM), and respiratory and immunology (R&I). Within oncology, AstraZeneca markets established medicines including osimertinib (Tagrisso), olaparib (Lynparza, developed with MSD), and durvalumab (Imfinzi). The CVRM portfolio includes dapagliflozin (Farxiga/Forxiga), which has received regulatory approvals across heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes indications. The respiratory franchise covers budesonide/formoterol combinations and the biologic tezepelumab (Tezspire, developed with Amgen) for severe asthma.
AstraZeneca UK operates across the full pharmaceutical value chain: early and late-stage clinical trials, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, market access, and commercial operations serving the National Health Service. The UK site at Cambridge is complemented by manufacturing and biologics development capabilities at sites including Macclesfield. The company collaborates extensively with the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, and NHS England, and was a prominent partner in the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine programme, through which AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria was manufactured and distributed globally at no profit during the pandemic period.
AstraZeneca participates in hundreds of sponsored clinical studies in the United Kingdom at any given time, engaging NHS trusts, academic medical centres, and independent research sites. The organisation also operates a patient access programme infrastructure and maintains a dedicated UK medical information service for healthcare professionals.
Further information is available at astrazeneca.co.uk.