LONDON — AstraZeneca CE Pascal Soriot is a big believer in science, and the biggest experiment of his career is the reinvention of the drugmaker.The $500m corporate headquarters and research hub emerging amid cranes on the southern edge of the university town of Cambridge symbolises his aim to create a science-led company with uniquely close ties to academia.For employees, these are uncomfortable times. Thousands of jobs have been cut globally at the company in the past three years, with more to come. Some staff are also reluctant to move to Cambridge, with its high house prices, from north-west England where the company has a strong presence dating from its time as part of the old ICI chemicals empire.Soriot, however, relishes the chance to shake things up by setting up home near world-renowned university labs — where he says the firm is better placed to hire the "best of the best" — while shrinking its operations to focus on core areas like cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular d...
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