Britain's AstraZeneca invests $1b in Chinese life sciences parks

It will also boost the headcount in its Shanghai R&D centre to 1,000.

Britain’s AstraZeneca ties up with China International Capital (CICC) to launch a $1b fund into the Chinese life sciences parks it helped open in the eastern city of Wuxi in 2018, according to Reuters.

The company also plans to expand an existing research and development center in Shanghai from 450 employees to 1,000, and establish a new artificial intelligence innovation center in the city.

Western drugmakers have profited from partnerships in China, where AstraZeneca’s sales have doubled since 2012, as well as a softening in the regulatory environment for pharmaceutical firms.

AstraZeneca, he said, wanted to start making drugs it could export globally from China. Areas of opportunity included oncology and respiratory diseases.

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