Overview of AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a pharmaceuticals manufacturing and research company that operates within over 100 countries worldwide. In Australia, AstraZeneca employs over 900 people and approximately 57 000 globally. In 2014, AstraZeneca sold $26 billion worth of products with a profit of $6.9 billion. Currently, they boast a portfolio of 55 clinical trials.
AstraZeneca produces pharmaceuticals in the areas of: Cardiovascular and Metabolic disease; Oncology; Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmunity; Infection; Neuroscience; and Gastrointestinal disease. In order to continue producing more advanced medicines AstraZeneca conduct extensive research in consultation with medical professionals. This area of the company is heavily invested in as $4 billion is allocated to research and development every year (AstraZeneca, 2015).
Production of
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The pharmaceuticals industry relies heavily on using stoichiometric ratios in order to drive equilibria to completion (National Research Council, 2005, pp. 20-21). This results in large amounts of waste products per batch which, if not disposed of efficiently, can deposit in waterways and soil. This is especially detrimental when these waste products involve amines which can lead to algal bloom and eutrophication of waterways. In the case of Xylocaine®, excess diethylamine is used not only to drive equilibria but also to buffer the pH of the mixture as hydrochloric acid is produced. If used to too much of an excess this amine compound can go into waste streams and be released into the environment. By implementing catalysis into pharmaceutical production processes the need for exploiting stoichiometric ratios can be removed and a more efficient process created. Figure 4 highlights these inefficiencies of the pharmaceutical industry (National Research Council, 2005,