AstraZeneca to Invest $2.5 Billion to Establish Global Drug R&D Center in Beijing

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.