‘Follow the science’: AstraZeneca unveils £1bn R&D centre

Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company has come a long way since it fought off a takeover bid in 2014

Little expense has been spared at the giant glass and steel structure that sprouts from a once-vacant plot of land on the outskirts of Cambridge.

AstraZeneca's 1bn new research and development centre houses 16 labs and 2,200 scientists, making it the biggest science lab in Britain along with the Francis Crick Institute in London, and the pharmaceutical company's biggest single site investment to date.