Manufacturing & operations

Manufacturing in AstraZeneca takes place world-wide. In the UK, there are two locations: at UK Manufacturing, Macclesfield in the north west, which is involved in all three stages of manufacture; and at Avlon Works, Bristol, in the south west, which is involved in bulk drug operations.

The manufacturing and operations team within AstraZeneca are responsible for turning the small scale processes used at the Research stage into commercial products which can be manufactured safely and consistently. This group work closely with the Development functions within the company to identify the most appropriate dosage and dosage forms, taking into account how and where in the body the compound acts, the stability of the material and the cost of the final product.

To turn those grammes into tonnes, active ingredients need to be combined with non-active excipients, the stage known as bulk drug production. Next is the development into a form suitable to be taken by the patient, for example, a tablet or an injection, a process known as formulation.

Packaging materials are obtained from specialist suppliers to complete the process of packing the product for UK and over 100 export markets. Some 170 formulation variants are expanded to around 2000 pack/market variants to accommodate the demands of individual countries or regulatory authorities.

Manufacturing undertake the necessary testing of the final product, using methods specified by the registered data, before the product is despatched to the customer. Locations of our UK Manufacturing & Operations sites.