AstraZeneca moves Gulf regional office from UK to Dubai Healthcare City

"We are extremely pleased to announce this partnership with AstraZeneca. It is the world's fifth largest pharmaceutical firm and we are glad they decided to relocate their Gulf Regional Office to DHCC," said Saeed Al Muntafiq, Chairman of the Board, DHCC.

"DHCC will ensure that AstraZeneca's Gulf Regional Office move from the UK will facilitate the organization's long-term objectives for the region," Al Muntafiq added.

"We have been coordinating the Gulf regional activities out of the UK for many years. Since the merger of Sweden's Astra and the UK's Zeneca in 1999 to create AstraZeneca we have been coordinating our businesses through our local distributors but we will now have an AstraZeneca Gulf regional office in DHCC. The Gulf market is an extremely important one for our industry and we had always wanted to be closer to the market. Since Dubai Healthcare City will become a globally acknowledged healthcare hub, we made a perfect choice for our regional operations," Harjinder Kang, General Manager of AstraZeneca Gulf said.

"Dubai Healthcare City will become a center of excellence for specialists in healthcare and medical services. Its world-class infrastructure and commitment to quality will make international standards accessible to the region, which is definitely a suitable place for a company like ours," added Harjinder of AstraZeneca.

In addition, he pointed out that the dedicated facility and environment that DHCC provides to medical, healthcare and pharmaceutical entities will support professionals in this business.

"Our move will be more than simply a relocation of offices, moreover we are keen to partner with DHCC and be part of this ambitious vision. DHCC's commitment to medical education along with our belief in corporate social responsibilities will create a partnership between us to develop on going healthcare education.

"In addition, this venture will also raise awareness of the latest medical technologies and techniques amongst physicians, doctors, specialists and other medical and para-medical personnel," Harjinder of AstraZeneca added.

Improving patient care in the region is a key goal that AstraZeneca has set. Patient education is important and relevant in specific disease areas and is part of AstraZeneca's on going commitment to patient care.

"We are keen to start up patient education programmes in partnership with DHCC, which we hope, would result in improved diagnosis skills, and consequently a higher standard of medical treatment deliver in the region," Harjinder added.

Astra Zeneca's commitment to improving medical care made it the pharmaceuticals industry's fourth largest spender on research and development with funds allocated worth more than US $3 billion.

The company's main medical focus areas include cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, infection, neuroscience, oncology and respiratory and inflammation, which represent the majority of the worldwide diseases.