AstraZeneca's $15bn China bet tests West's fragile drug alliance

IndustryM&A · PartnershipGeopolitics Impact 4
โดย Yahoo Finance UK·CNGB·Read original
Summary · why it matters

AstraZeneca has pledged to invest $15bn in China, deepening Western pharmaceutical ties with a country that has become a bona fide drug superpower even as Washington moves to sever them. The company's chief executive, Sir Pascal Soriot, announced the investment during Sir Keir Starmer's Beijing visit, building on existing manufacturing and research sites in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuxi, Taizhou and Qingdao; China is now AstraZeneca's second-largest market, accounting for roughly 12pc of global turnover, with around 17,000 employees and four advanced manufacturing sites. GSK has struck a series of partnerships with Chinese labs, including a $1.3bn pact with Hutchmed for the bulk of licensing rights to what it called first-in-class cancer treatments, and an alliance with Hengrui Pharma worth up to $12bn. Industry-wide licensing deals totalled $138bn last year, a nearly tenfold jump since 2021, according to PharmCube. The US Biosecure Act, signed into law in December, bars companies reliant on federal contracts from working with Chinese biotech firms tied to the military, and the proposed Biotech Investment National Security Act would subject licensing deals involving Chinese companies to national security reviews. China had 1,255 drugs at the research stage by 2024, a nearly eight-fold jump in less than a decade, against 1,441 in America and 400 in Europe.

Impact on stocks 4

Biotech & Genomic Medicine▲ · 3 stocks
AstraZeneca PLC
AZN
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

AstraZeneca pledged a $15bn investment in China, expanding its manufacturing and research footprint.

GSK plc
GSK
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

GSK struck partnerships with Chinese labs including a $1.3bn Hutchmed pact and a $12bn Hengrui alliance.

HUTCHMED China Ltd
0013
▲ PositiveDemandrelevance

GSK struck a $1.3bn pact with Hutchmed for licensing rights to first-in-class cancer treatments, a concrete deal for Hutchmed.

Others▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 3

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