Two East Midlands members of the European Parliament were in Loughborough recently to find out all about the latest developments at AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood, the town's medicines research company.

Mel Read and Phillip Whitehead, both Labour MEPs, sit on committees examining important proposed reforms to European pharmaceutical legislation and were keen to find out what one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies felt about the proposed changes.

Phillip Whitehead said: "It is absolutely crucial that we understand developments at a major employer in our area, which is at the cutting edge of technology. Unless we can know what is happening we cannot be good legislators - and this is particularly important for the pharmaceutical industry."

Greeted by Site General Manager Simon Proffitt, the two toured the new state-of-the-art laboratories where leading edge technology is used for research into respiratory areas and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. Discussions on the European legislation were also held with the senior staff who would be directly involved in the legislation under examination.

Mel Read said the visit had been worthwhile, as it had given her a practical insight into the pharmaceutical industry and a clearer understanding of how the European legislation needed to be drafted.

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