AstraZeneca's Rs 166 Cr AI Healthcare Hub in Bengaluru

Chennai, Jun 26 (PTI) Global bio-pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has established its state-of-the-art Global Hub in Bengaluru investing Rs 166 crore to focus on development of AI-powered healthcare solutions, a top official said on Thursday.

This marks the second major investment by AstraZeneca in July 2024 after it announced expansion of its Global Innovation and Technology Centre in Chennai with an outlay of Rs 250 crore.

The new facility in Bengaluru is designed to accommodate nearly 1,300 employees including 400 new jobs. It will support the company's capabilities in AI-powered innovation across Research and Development, global business services, Information Technology and digital health operations, among others.

The Global Hub in Bengaluru is dedicated to Research and Development, Global Business Services, Information Technology while the Global Innovation and Technology Centre in Chennai serves as a strategic hub for IT, Global Business Services.

Following the expansion of the facility, the combined workforce of AstraZeneca India Pvt Ltd would reach close to 4,000 employees, strengthening company's capability to deliver life-changing medicines to patients worldwide.

Commenting on the development, company Vice President Global Business Services, Jackie Crockford said, "Our Global Hub in Bengaluru is a strategic investment that will play a vital role in advancing AstraZeneca's bold ambition to deliver 20 new medicines by 2030 by strengthening automated, scalable, data-driven and patient centric solutions."

"This step reflects our commitment to tapping into the world-class talent and ecosystem available in Karnataka to power the next generation of scientific innovation." he said in a company statement here.

The new facility would serve as a dynamic hub in advanced clinical research supporting AstraZeneca's global therapeutic areas, development of AI-powered healthcare solutions, centralised data analytics to enhance clinical trial efficiency among others.

AstraZeneca Global Patient Safety BioPharma, Vice-President Magnus Nord said, "This hub enhances our Research and Development capabilities by connecting us with India's exceptional scientific and technological expertise."

The expansion would accelerate the development of innovative medicines and deliver across Research and Development, ultimately benefitting patients around the world", Nord said.

The Global Hub reflects AstraZeneca's dedication to environmental sustainability and the facility is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification. It is currently powered by 75 per cent green energy. It has waste-water recycling, Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled systems for optimised energy management among others.