The Alderly Park projects are located in Macclesfield in northern England in the UK, and are part of AstraZenica's expansion programme. This helps to keep Zeneca active in the area, where it is the single biggest employer. As Macclesfield is such an important production and research centre for AstraZeneca, it has been the subject of several investments in relatively small projects in the past three years. This project was completed in the first quarter of 1999, and employs around 30 staff.
Production capacity is between half and two tonnes a year.
The drugs are not expected to go on the market until 2001, since they have yet to receive clearance from the drug safety authorities. ZD9331, likely to be the first compound to be given the go ahead, is still in phase II clinical trials. The largest investment was the new Zoladex plant, officially opened in July 1999. This was only two years after the project was initially designed. Zoladex is used to treat prostate and breast cancer and some benign gynaecological conditions.