Article from Business Weekly, by Alan Smith, 16 August 2007

BioFocus is driving forward major plans for US expansion following a new £460k collaboration with pharma giant, AstraZeneca, to support its infection discovery programme in Boston.

The Great Chesterford company, which has increased its San Diego operation by over 50 per cent since its £20m acquisition by Galapagos NV almost two years ago, is seeking larger premises to accommodate the extra staff it believes it will need.

Building on previously announced drug discovery collaborations between the companies, BioFocus DPI will perform medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry and supporting biology plus ADMET services.

The new deal marks the third collaboration between AZ, whose healthcare sales stand at £13bn, and BioFocus and is the first to support AstraZeneca's US-based R & D operations.