Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co., Ltd.

AstraZeneca, a British company, hopes to invest $2.5 billion to establish its sixth global strategic R&D center in Beijing. The investment, which will be completed over the next five years, is part of a strategic partnership between AstraZeneca and the Beijing Municipal Government and the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Office, and includes multiple research and manufacturing agreements. AstraZeneca expects its headcount in Beijing to increase to 1,700.   AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said: "This $2.5 billion investment reflects our confidence in Beijing's world-class life science ecosystem, our confidence in the broad opportunities for collaboration and talent acquisition, and our continued commitment to China. Our sixth strategic R&D center will work with Beijing's cutting-edge biology and artificial intelligence science to bring innovative medicines to patients around the world."   Beijing is AstraZeneca's second global strategic R&D center in China after Shanghai, which will be supported by new artificial intelligence and data science laboratories and focus on early research and clinical development.   AstraZeneca said it is also establishing new R&D partnerships in Beijing. This includes a strategic partnership with Beijing Cancer Hospital in translational research, data science and clinical development. The company also signed two collaboration and licensing agreements: one with Harbour BioMed for the discovery of multispecific antibodies and the other with Syneron Bio for the development of macrocyclic peptides.   In addition, AstraZeneca will establish a new joint venture with BioKangtai to develop, produce and commercialize innovative vaccines for respiratory and other infectious diseases. According to AstraZeneca, this will be the company's first and only vaccine production site in China, located in the Beijing Biopark.

iStock, Robert Way The investments come amid an ongoing insurance fraud probe into AstraZeneca’s former China head Leon Wang—and despite mounting pressure from President Trump for pharma companies to re-shore their manufacturing operations. AstraZeneca is betting big money on China, unveiling plans to establish a new global strategic center in the country, alongside a pair of high-value deals with Chinese biotechs. With potential milestone payments, the pharma is putting more than $10 billion overall on the line, In a Friday news release, AstraZeneca unveiled a $2.5 billion investment in Beijing, set to be paid out over the next five years, with an eye toward establishing its sixth global strategic R&D center there. The new research facility will focus on early-stage studies and clinical development, and will “partner with the cutting-edge biology and AI science in Beijing,” CEO Pascal Soriot said in the statement. Alongside its $2.5 billion manufacturing pledge, AstraZeneca on Friday also inked a handful of research collaborations. With Harbour BioMed, based in Shanghai, AstraZeneca will discover and develop next-generation multispecific antibodies. For $175 million upfront and the promise of up to $4.4 billion in development and commercial milestones, AstraZeneca will have the option to license two preclinical immunology programs and will be able to nominate additional targets down the line. AstraZeneca on Friday also joined hands with Beijing-based Syneron Bio to advance oral macrocyclic peptides. AstraZeneca made a $75 million upfront payment and pledged up to $3.4 billion in milestones. The partners have yet to reveal priority indications, only announcing that they will target “chronic diseases, including rare, autoimmune, and metabolic disease.” The pharma also announced that it will work with the Beijing Cancer Hospital for translational research, data science and clinical development, and will also launch a joint vaccine venture with BioKangtai. AstraZeneca’s hefty investment comes amid mounting political pressure on the company—both domestically and internationally. In late 2024, news broke that Chinese authorities were looking into AstraZeneca’s former China president Leon Wang for alleged insurance fraud, according to local financial-focused publication Yicai , which also noted that other top pharma officials were under investigation. Wang was detained by Chinese authorities late last year, and as of February AstraZeneca has said it has had no access to him. Then, last month, during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year business report, AstraZeneca announced that it was facing a fine of up to approximately $4.5 million in China, in connection with missed import taxes . Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has also been pressuring pharma companies to bring their manufacturing operations to the U.S., reportedly threatening them with tariffs if they don’t. Eli Lilly has since announced a $27 billion infusion into its U.S. operations, earmarked for the construction of four new manufacturing plants to be built over the next five years. J&J followed suit, announcing last week that it will pump $55 billion into its U.S. manufacturing and R&D footprint, to be disbursed over the next four years. The money will help the pharma construct three manufacturing plants as well as expand existing sites for its medicines and MedTech units.

AstraZeneca (AZ) has said it will be investing $2.5bn in China over the next five years to “further advance life sciences” in the country. The investment includes a new global research and development (R&D) centre designed to advance AZ’s early-stage research and clinical development. The site will be located in the Beijing International Pharmaceutical Innovation Park (BioPark) and will be enabled by an artificial intelligence (AI) and data science laboratory, the company said. AZ’s commitment, which is part of a strategic partnership with the Beijing Municipal Government and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area Administrative Office, also includes two collaboration and licensing agreements: one with Syneron Bio to develop macro-cyclic peptides, and one with Harbour BioMed to discover multi-specific antibodies. The company will also be launching a joint venture with BioKangtai to advance new vaccines for respiratory and other infectious diseases, and establishing a strategic partnership with the Beijing Cancer Hospital in translational research, data science and clinical development. AZ’s chief executive officer, Pascal Soriot, said: “This $2.5bn investment reflects our belief in the world-class life sciences ecosystem in Beijing, the extensive opportunities that exist for collaboration and access to talent, and our continued commitment to China. “Our sixth strategic R&D centre will partner with the cutting-edge biology and AI science in Beijing and be a critical part of our global efforts to bring innovative medicines to patients worldwide.” The announcement comes just four months after AZ unveiled a $3.5bn investment in the US aimed at expanding its research and manufacturing footprint by 2026. The funds will go towards an R&D centre in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as a biologics manufacturing facility in Maryland. AZ’s cell therapy manufacturing capacity on the West and East Coasts and specialty manufacturing in Texas will also be expanded, the company said in the November announcement, adding that $2bn of the investment will be dedicated to creating more than 1,000 highly-skilled jobs. The company also said in May that it will be building a $1.5bn antibody drug conjugate manufacturing facility in Singapore, with the facility expected to be operational by 2029.