AstraZeneca is investing £75m into its base in Macclesfield in a move that will help to secure the future of the site's 3,500 staff.
The biopharmaceutical company intends to create a state-of-the-art packing and warehousing facility at its base in Hurdsfield. AstraZeneca's regional vice president Marc Jones said the news "confirms the significance of Macclesfield as a major manufacturing facility".
In 2013, AstraZeneca announced plans to relocate the majority of its R&D jobs from Alderley Park, also in Cheshire East, to Cambridge.
David Brown (pictured), deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, said: "This is fantastic news and a real vote of confidence in Macclesfield, its highly skilled workforce and in the whole of the bio-science sector in Cheshire East.
"This significant investment will not only help secure skilled jobs and give a real boost to the local economy but also strongly supports the council's vibrant Cheshire Science Corridor strategy.
"AZ's Macclesfield site is a key asset in the Cheshire Science Corridor – accounting for more than one per cent of total UK exports – and part of the borough's thriving life science sector, which employs more than 7,000 people."
The new Hurdsfield facilities will be built on the site of an existing warehouse and will feature packing lines for tablets and capsules and an automated warehouse. Demolition work has already begun and construction of the new facility will begin in early January 2016.
The company has also recently invested in a new sterile production facility at its Macclesfield site.
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