The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will finally locate its new European hub for research into new therapies in the Estel building in Barcelona: a pioneering project in Europe in which they plan to invest 800 million euros in five years and hire 1,000 people. The hub culminates the efforts of the City Council and the Generalitat to grow in the biomedical sector, with the promotion of collaboration projects with the private sector and investment in a leading hospital and clinical research network.
The British firm has finally chosen a building emblematic of the city’s transformation: the former Telefónica headquarters on Avenida de Roma, a 1972 building designed by architect Francesc Mitjans and now owned by the German real estate investment manager FREO and the US fund Bain Capital Credit. Business sources explained that AstraZeneca has already signed a preliminary agreement to rent two floors of the building, a unique property in Barcelona due to its horizontal design: each of them has up to 5,000 m² of surface.
With its 42,000 m², Estel is the largest office building in the entire city. Since Telefonica left it in 2011, it languished waiting for several failed projects to come to fruition, such as the transformation into luxury homes.
Freo and Bain Capital have transformed it into a complex that combines offices and services, with an investment that exceeds 890 million euros. The complex will have a gym, function room and a restaurant area with large terraces that are also expected to energize an area that is eminently residential. As an added attraction, they plan to open large garden balconies with views and a leisure and restaurant area on the roof, with public access.
The arrival of AstraZeneca represents a strong boost to the biomedical sector in Barcelona. The global president of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot, recognized a year ago, when he announced the choice of Barcelona, ??the power of the city. Soriot then assessed that the R&D ecosystem is “first class” and has sufficient potential to become a hub for global health research. “Multidisciplinary research centers are in places like Boston or San Francisco, where, for example, 30 years ago there was no developed scientific industry. This is the opportunity that Barcelona has to attract more companies and build an ecosystem.”
The new European hub in Barcelona will be the first for the company that will integrate the innovative capabilities of AstraZeneca and Alexion (the group’s rare diseases division) in a single space and will focus mainly on oncology, cardiovascular, renal, metabolic, respiratory diseases and vaccines. , in addition to rare diseases. Rick R. Suárez, president of AstraZeneca in Spain, noted in the presentation of the project that the group “focuses on a collaborative model with local institutions” and will have three strategic lines: promoting basic and preclinical research, the participation of researchers and Spanish centers in all international clinical trials, and support for initiatives by independent researchers.
A report prepared by Barcelona
