In our quest to help patients, we are redefining our company and transforming ourselves for the future.

By uniquely combining the strengths of a traditional pharmaceutical company with the attributes of a successful biotech company, we are becoming a new kind of enterprise; a next generation of BioPharma. We are focused, agile and flexible and infused with the entrepreneurial culture of an innovative biotech. Yet, at the same time we are large enough to marshal the resources necessary to invest in our pipeline and bring new medicines to patients in need.

A key element of our new BioPharma model is a streamlined and flexible approach to business. In 2008, we spent $3.5 billion worldwide on research and development and this expenditure will continue to grow throughout 2010.

At the same time, we are constantly striving to grow the business either through selective acquisitions of companies and products or by developing innovative partnerships; what we call our String of Pearls strategy. Since October 2007, we have strung together eight 'pearls' new technologies, alliances and acquisitions that uniquely build upon an existing strength within our R&D organisation or create a new area of expertise. Either way, the ultimate goal is to offer patients new treatment options in areas of serious disease with significant unmet medical need.

Already, this String of Pearls, including novel and first in- class small molecules and biologic compounds in development, has strengthened the pipeline, extended our relationships with exisiting partners and potentially enhanced our ability to help future patients prevail over serious disease. We also have a strategic partnership with AstraZeneca for Onglyza, our new treatment for Type 2 diabetes, and we are in the process of developing and commercialising another promising compound in the same disease area.

Last, but not least, are our biologics. These large molecule protein-based therapies play an important part in our R&D strategy for oncology and immunology. Construction of our $750 million biologics manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, USA is underway.

Ultimately, our success as a next-generation BioPharma leader will be measured by the difference we can make to the lives of patients who are fighting serious diseases.

Here you can read more about our therapy areas.