AstraZeneca is set to build a $2.5 billion research and development centre in Beijing, a UK-based multinational pharmaceutical company announced on Friday. File photos by Drago Prvuulovic/EPA-Efe
March 21st (UPI) – AstraZeneca is set to build a $2.5 billion research and development centre in Beijing, a UK-based multinational pharmaceutical company announced on Friday.
The investment marks the company’s sixth global investment hub and raises Beijing’s workforce to around 1,700, AstraZeneca said in a statement on its website.
As part of the research and development centre, the company is partnering with the local Beijing government and three Chinese biotechnology companies, and has a “strategic partnership” with Beijing Cancer Hospital.
The announcement comes just a month after Chinese officials warned that AstraZeneca was facing severe fines over unpaid import taxes.
Astrazeneca did not mention the issue in a news release Friday.
The company has an existing research facility in Shanghai.
“This $2.5 billion investment reflects our belief in Beijing’s world-class life sciences ecosystem, the wide range of opportunities that exist for cooperation and access to talent, and our continued commitment to China.”
The sixth Strategic R&D Center will be an important part of our global efforts to partner with Beijing’s cutting-edge biology and AI sciences to bring innovative medicines to patients around the world. ”
The three Chinese companies affiliated with Astrazeneca are Harbor Biomed, Syneron Bio and Biokangtai.
The company will work with Biokangtai as part of another initiative to open a vaccine manufacturing facility in China to develop treatments for respiratory and infectious diseases.
