The Hindu Business Line : AstraZeneca global downsizing will not touch India, says CEO

NEW CENTRE: Mr David Brennan, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca (right), and Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor, Infosys, at the inauguration of AstraZeneca's R&D facility in Bangalore on Wednesday. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore March 21 AstraZeneca's global downsizing will not touch India, according to its CEO, Mr David Brennan.

The pharma MNC employs nearly 1,200 people in the country across sales, manufacturing and research functions.

In February this year, the Anglo-Swedish major notified it would shed 3,000 manufacturing jobs over three years, or up to 2010 in order to tone up efficiency levels, tangible as saving of $500 million.

The impact is being mainly felt in the UK (700 jobs); Sweden (850); and the US (around 450).

"There will be no impact at all in India," Mr Brennan, on his two-day, first visit to the country, said on Wednesday. "Essentially, the jobs (being cut) are on the manufacturing side and form 4.6 per cent of our total workforce."

New R&D centre

Mr Brennan opened the new $15-million (around Rs 67 crore) process R&D centre at the existing 66-acre Bangalore campus. Investments made in the country till 2006 top $100 million (around Rs 450 crore) and would continue to flow in the future depending on the growth of business, he told newspersons.

The wholly owned discovery subsidiary, AstraZeneca India Ltd, has 100 research and administrative staff; its new PR&D centre has around 40 scientists; the publicly-traded manufacturing and marketing entity AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd (AZPIL) has around 250 people, while the rest is the sales and marketing pool. Globally, AZ has 66,000 people, 58 per cent in Europe, 28 per cent in the Americas and just 14 per cent in the rest of the world. About 12,000 of them are in research.

NO DELISTING

About its earlier attempt to delist the Rs 293-crore AZPIL from the bourses, Mr Brennan said, "There is (now) no plan to change that status". The parent holds 90.12 per cent stake in AZPIL and the public 8.56 per cent, FIs and others the remaining stake.

Mr Brennan said it aimed to have a strong portfolio of new potential drug compounds and was looking seriously at India for its R&D needs, especially the talent available in chemistry. He hoped the country would offer the right support to innovation.

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