AstraZeneca invests in China
AstraZeneca is to invest US$100m in r&d in China over the next three years as it looks to establish the AstraZeneca Innovation Centre China as a hub for innovative medicines for Chinese patients.
AstraZeneca is to invest US$100m in r&d in China over the next three years as it looks to establish the AstraZeneca Innovation Centre China as a hub for innovative medicines for Chinese patients.
The centre will foster "translational science", developing knowledge about Chinese patients, biomarkers and genetics, and will initially focus its means on cancer. AZ has begun scouting for locations for the centre, which it is hoped will be operational by the end of 2009.
AZ will also use its investment to expand its clinical research capabilities by increasing the number of scientific collaborations with local Chinese organisations. The company has recently signed a deal worth $14m with Wuxi Pharmatech for compound collection synthesis and has an existing collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University on the genetics of schizophrenia.
"With [its] rapid economic growth and increasing demand for better healthcare, China has become one of the most important emerging markets for AstraZeneca and will be important to our future success," said David Brennan, AstraZeneca ceo. "AstraZeneca welcomes and supports the Chinese government's continuing policy to recognize investment in knowledge transfer and R&D innovation by strengthening IP protection."
Having built a network of marketing and sales offices and a manufacturing site, AZ has become one of the leading multinational companies in China with 2,200 employees locally. AZ China is headquartered in Shanghai and has branch offices in more than 20 cities across the country. Its manufacturing plant is located in Wuxi, Jiangsu province and was inaugurated in 2001.
The first multinational pharmaceutical company to include China as an area for large-scale international multi-centre trials and establish a clinical research centre there, AZ is continuing to demonstrate its commitment to being "In China, For China" by partnering with government organisations and industry associations to develop academic and management knowledge among medical professionals and hospital executives. It has also initiated a number of programmes on disease education and public health.