Partnering for scientific leadership

AstraZeneca has a long heritage in respiratory disease with 40 years of experience and a strong franchise of marketed products. Our portfolio includes a range of differentiated inhaled and targeted therapies, such as biologics, novel combinations and new devices to treat the full range of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. We are also developing innovative treatments within inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, with a pipeline of promising assets in rheumatology, dermatology, gout, systemic lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Our innovative precision approaches will ensure the right treatment for the right patient.

Areas of interest include:

• Asthma
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
  
• Rheumatology focus in areas such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and gout
• Opportunistic interest in co-morbidities or adjacent diseases to the above with similar prescriber bases

Our Cardiovascular and Metabolic diseases (CVMD) portfolio is focused on reducing morbidity, mortality and organ damage by addressing multiple risk factors across cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease indications. We aim to provide next-generation treatments that can stop or even reverse disease progression.

AstraZeneca is uniquely equipped to address targets using a broad variety of approaches, including small molecules, antisense oligonucleotides, modified RNA, anti-micro RNA molecules, antibodies, peptides and recombinant proteins.

Areas of interest include:

• Dyslipidaemia, atherosclerosis and chronic heart disease
• Heart failure and cardiac regeneration
• Chronic kidney disease and diabetic nephropathy
• NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis)
• Diabetic islet cell health, insulin sensitisation, and the return of beta cell function

Our broad pipeline focuses on four disease areas – breast, ovarian, lung and haematological cancers. These are being targeted through four key platforms – immunotherapy, the genetic drivers of cancer and resistance, DNA damage repair and antibody-drug conjugates. We have one of the most exciting and comprehensive immuno-oncology portfolios in the industry. In particular, we are uniquely positioned to explore synergistic combinations of immunotherapies, both with each other and with our own highly targeted small molecules, supported by external collaborations.

Areas of interest include:

• Immune-mediated therapies
• Genetic and molecular targeting
• DNA damage repair
• Antibody-drug conjugates
• Biologically synergistic combinations
• Lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, haematology

AstraZeneca aims to discover and develop effective, targeted therapies and vaccine approaches to address unmet medical needs.

Areas of interest include:

• Serious bacterial infections
• Respiratory viruses
• Novel vaccines

A significant unmet medical need remains in the areas of cognitive disorders, chronic pain and other central nervous system disorders. With a rich heritage and a research and development focus on specific aspects of neurodegenerative diseases, analgesia and psychiatry, we continue to push the boundaries of science in neuroscience in collaboration with others across industry and academia.

Areas of interest include:

• Neurodegenerative disorders
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Chronic analgesia

Personalised healthcare is at the heart of AstraZeneca’s approach to discovering and developing medicines, because we believe in the value it can deliver. This is reflected in our pipeline, with approximately 80% of our programmes benefiting from a personalised healthcare or biomarker platform. Our bold ambition is to transform patients’ lives through personalised healthcare, ensuring that innovative treatments are matched to those patients who are likely to benefit most – the right drug for the right patient at the right time. This will benefit patients, payers and healthcare systems broadly. Our personalised healthcare and biomarker team follows the science and would look to collaborate with a wide range of expert partners to identify, validate and manufacture diagnostics to regulatory standards, and for innovative biomarker capabilities.

Areas of interest include:

• Methodology for patient selection
• Disease identification
• Pharmacological assessment
• Drug response monitoring

We are interested in cutting-edge technologies to enhance the quality, effectiveness and productivity of our research and translational capabilities.

Areas of interest include:

• Target validation tools and technologies
• Novel high throughput screening/lead generation approaches
• Novel chemical libraries with evidence of biological relevance
• Predictive safety and predictive efficacy platforms
• Drug delivery platforms and medical device technologies, in particular methods for inhaled and parenterally-administered drugs
  
• Novel delivery, manufacturing and analytical processes, in particular those applicable to nucleic acid-based drugs and antibody-drug conjugates
• New systems for drug targeting
• Stem cell biology
• Novel technologies for antibodies and vaccines
• Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)