Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca which has a large presence in Cheshire East has reported a "continued strong company performance and execution of our long-term growth strategy" in its full-year results.

Full-year revenue increased 25% to $44bn with growth in all therapy areas. The full-year results also included the addition of Alexion which was bought by AstraZeneca in 2021.

AstraZeneca has campuses in Macclesfield and Alderley Edge in Cheshire East and has had a presence in the county for over 25 years employing 3,500 people at both facilities.

Alderley Park campus which has 700 employees

The company had made excellent pipeline progress according to Chief Executive, Pascal Soriot with a record 34 approvals obtained, all in major markets.

He said of the progress.

"In 2023, we expect to see another year of double-digit revenue growth at CER, excluding our Covid-19 medicines. We will continue to invest in our pipeline and recent launches while continuing to improve profitability. We plan to initiate more than thirty Phase III trials this year, of which ten have the potential to deliver peak year sales over one billion dollars.

"Our R&D success and revenue increase in 2022 demonstrates that we are on track to deliver industry-leading revenue growth through 2025 and beyond and have set AstraZeneca on a path to deliver at least 15 new medicines before the end of the decade."

Astra Zeneca announced last year, their commitment to the long-standing future at the Cheshire sites with a £16.5 million investment in the manufacturing facilities announced.