PRIME minister Malcolm Turnbull has done more than just visit the Queen during his trip to the UK this week, with his London itinerary also including a meeting overnight with AstraZeneca (AZ) ceo Pascal Soriot.
The occasion included an announcement by AZ that it would invest a further $100 million in its Australian manufacturing operation, including 60 new jobs.
The expansion will see the development of three specialised production lines for innovative respiratory medicines, which will boost AZ's international exports from the site in Sydney's North Ryde to more than $2.4 billion over the next four years.
Each production line has the capacity to produce over 70 million units per year of asthma treatment Pulmicort Respules.
Soriot said AstraZeneca had a 60-year history of innovation in Australia, and "our latest investment is an example of the tremendous opportunities presented by high-tech manufacturing and productivity, creating jobs, boosting exports and ultimately making a positive impact on the Australian economy".
AZ has already invested $105m in the North Ryde production site over the last five years, with the three new lines complementing eight existing specialised facilities.
It is forecast that by 2025 AZ will be producing over one billion respules annually from Sydney.
Mark Morgan, AstraZeneca Australia manufacturing director, said the machinery used was a result of close collaboration with Melbourne-based Andrew Donald Design Engineering, which will build each new production line from scratch to AZ's design specification.
"Despite the trend for manufacturing businesses to relocate to countries where labour costs are lower, we're investing and expanding our manufacturing operations in Australia with locally manufactured equipment," he said.
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