ASTRAZENECA EXPANDING R&D

AstraZeneca is investing $100 million and adding 100 scientific jobs to expand its research work on infectious diseases and cancer.

The 100 new researchers would join more than 400 current employees working to find treatments for infectious diseases and cancer at AstraZeneca's R&D center in Waltham, Mass., the company said Jan. 22. AstraZeneca will begin construction on a new 132,000-square-foot facility on the site in the first quarter of this year and finish by mid-2009.

The company is setting its sights on the antibacterial market, saying that while resistance to current drugs has grown, production of new drugs is slow, with only 10 new antibacterials introduced since 1998.

Researchers at the Waltham site have discovered three potential drugs to treat different cancers, including breast, ovarian and prostate cancer, since the facility opened in 2000, according to AstraZeneca. They also found two potential novel-class drugs to treat serious skin infections, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia.