Astellas conducts community activities in UK

Astellas has conducted a series of community activities and social action programmes in the UK to mark the firm's fifth anniversary.

Staff from the pharmaceutical company have been participating in initiatives to promote health and the environment across the globe as part of Changing Tomorrow Day, a series of events which took place in September and October 2010.

The scheme saw 37 Astellas employees visiting primary schools in Britain in order to conduct volunteer work last month.

A number of staff members travelled to Meath Primary School in Surrey to refurbish playgrounds and renovate classrooms, as well as leading a healthy cooking day for students at Buckland Primary School in Staines, Middlesex.

Other initiatives taking place across the world included the work done by Astellas' German division to support a local afterschool programme designed to assist underprivileged youngsters.

Earlier this month, Astellas confirmed that it has agreed a deal with Alavita Pharmaceuticals over an option to acquire rights to Diannexin, a drug preventing delayed graft function in kidney transplantation.