IBM Wins $1.4 Billion Outsourcing Deal From AstraZeneca

IBM said Monday it secured a $1.4 billion deal to provide technology services to Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Under the seven-year arrangement, which extends an existing contract, IBM will provide IT infrastructure management services to AstraZeneca locations in 60 countries. The services will include server and storage hosting, desktop management, network maintenance and management, and help desk support. AstraZeneca will maintain its application development services in-house.

Richard Williams, CIO at AstraZeneca, said in a statement that the deal will let the company "focus its efforts on adding value to its scientific, commercial and supply operations, thereby helping the company to deliver more medicines that make a meaningful difference to patients."

AstraZeneca is the manufacturer of Nexium, a drug for heartburn and acid reflux disease that's widely known as "the purple pill."

The agreement is a key win for IBM's services unit, given that it comes at a time when an increasing number of large pharmaceutical companies are tapping offshore vendors for their technology needs. In March, GlaxoSmithKline outsourced clinical data management for new drug development to India's Tata Consultancy Services. To fulfill the contract, TCS is building a new data center in Mumbai devoted exclusively to its Glaxo work.

In November 2006, Eli Lilly & Co. outsourced a range of clinical data management services to TCS.

The contract also is the latest in a string of significant outsourcing wins for IBM in Europe. So far in the second quarter, the company has announced services agreements with Royal and Sun Alliance in the U.K. for between $400 and $500 million and Banque Cantonale Vaudoise in Switzerland for $460 million. IBM also signed an $84 million deal with Spanish wind energy company Iberdrola during the period and a $354 million contract with Monte Paschi Bank in Italy.