AstraZeneca is planning to outsource all drug manufacturing activities within 10 years, according to a company statement. “Manufacturing for AstraZeneca is not a core activity,” said David Smith, AstraZeneca’s executive vice-president of operations. “AstraZeneca is about innovation and brand-building. There are lots of people and organizations that can manufacture better than we can,” Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Smith is leading restructuring initiatives in an effort to reduce costs and improve profitability before patent expirations on key drugs. According to Mr. Smith, the group plans to become strictly a research, development and marketing organization and the priority is to outsource all of the company’s API manufacturing.