Infosys wins multi-million dollar AstraZeneca deal

Infosys Technologies Ltd, India's second largest technology and consulting services firm, has announced a multi-million dollar five-year contract from British drug major AstraZeneca.

Under the agreement, Infosys will provide application maintenance services to AstraZeneca's global operations in areas, including manufacturing, supply chain, finance, and human resources. The companies did not specify the value of the deal. 

"We chose Infosys as a strategic partner for its understanding of the rapidly shifting dynamics in the pharmaceutical industry," said Richard Williams, Global CIO at AstraZeneca.

"The combination of Infosys' outsourcing expertise, technology leadership and proven record in rationalising and standardising business process were all contributing factors to our decision. We have confidence in Infosys' ability to deliver a flexible operating model to address our changing business needs more efficiently,'' he added.

''AstraZeneca is transforming its operations through multiple phases, with the first across the United Kingdom and the Nordics, and the subsequent phases focusing on the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. In addition, as part of the transition, AstraZeneca employees in Sweden and the UK will be rebadged to Infosys, thereby strengthening its global delivery network,'' the release said.

The deal is an expansion of Infosys' existing relationship with AstraZeneca and covers a wide range of application maintenance services.

''This is another significant step in our long standing partnership with AstraZeneca,'' said Infosys chief executive Kris Gopalakrishnan.

AstraZeneca, based in London, is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with sales of $29.55 billion.