AstraZeneca to outsource drug making – report

<p>The Times quoted David Smith, AstraZeneca&#0039;s executive vice-president of operations, as saying that the company aimed to become a pure research, development and marketing organization. <br /><br />According to the article, Mr Smith believes that ingredient manufacturing is not a core activity and outsourcing drug making would improve profitability. In the future, more sophisticated manufacturing and logistics activities could also be outsourced to cut costs.<br /><br />The company has previously announced that it is cutting a total of 7,600 jobs in order to save costs. AstraZeneca faces patent expiries on several key drugs over the next five years, prompting the cost-cutting initiative.</p>