AstraZeneca´s Bangalore Research Institute in India combines TB research and manufacturing capabilities. The Bangalore facility, opened in June 2003, is dedicated to finding a new therapy for TB that will act in drug-resistant disease and reduce the complexity and/or the duration of treatment. Today, AstraZeneca is the only pharmaceutical company with a research program in India totally dedicated to TB.

In addition to the USD 20 million initial investment in buildings and state-of-the-art equipment, AstraZeneca has committed a minimum of USD 5 million a year to supporting the research program. More than 80 scientists recruited from leading research institutions and universities now work at the facility and there are plans to recruit more international experts over the coming years. The Bangalore-based scientists work closely with AstraZeneca´s infection research center in Boston, USA and with external academic leaders in the field.

•The research team at Bangalore has focused its efforts on four specific goals:

•Shortening the duration of therapy to improve patient compliance;

•Eradicating disease, even latent disease, to reduce the chances of relapse;

•Developing new agents that will act on drug-resistant strains; and

•Developing agents that are compatible with HIV therapies.

AstraZeneca is also part of a new European Union Framework Program VI collaboration (NM4TB – New Medicines for Tuberculosis) that will enable them to work with academic opinion leaders involved in TB research. AstraZeneca is the only major pharmaceutical company involved in this project, which began in 2006. Funded by a grant from the EU Framework VI program and consisting of around fifteen groups of Europe´s most prominent scientists and researchers in the field, this consortium seeks to combine academic and pharmaceutical skills to further the discovery of new therapies for TB.