AstraZeneca Plc is to expand its drug manufacturing and research and development presence in China with an investment of $15 billion through 2030. China is already the company’s second largest market after the US, as well as a significant source of medical research and business collaborations. The new investment will build on this foundation. AstraZeneca announced the plan on 29 January, concurrent with a visit by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to China to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.
A focus of the new investment will be the development of cell therapies and radioconjugates, two therapy types that fall under AstraZeneca’s innovation agenda. “By expanding our capabilities in breakthrough treatments like cell therapy and radioconjugates, we will strengthen our contribution to China’s high-quality development and, most importantly, bring next-generation modalities to patients,” Pascal Soriot, chief executive, said in a prepared statement. This includes building on the company’s 2024 acquisition of the cell therapy developer, China-based Gracell Biotechnologies Inc. Gracell’s lead product is a clinical-stage, dual targeting autologous chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy for multiple myeloma.
AstraZeneca said it expects to become the first global biopharmaceutical company with end-to-end cell therapy capabilities in China. In addition, it is helping UK universities build research collaborations with Chinese institutions. The new investment follows the company’s announcement on 21 July 2025 to commit $50 billion to the US by 2030. This would cover a new R&D centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, clinical trial sites, and a manufacturing site in Virginia.
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