Greater China

Sep 1, 2005

Astrazeneca to pump US$35 mln into China

SHANGHAI - Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca will allocate an additional investment of US$35 million and enroll 500 new employees to expand the production capacity of its production base in Wuxi, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Steen Kroyer, head of AstraZeneca's China Operations, made the remarks recently in Shanghai, saying the expansion of production capacity aims to meet the demands of the Chinese market. The Wuxi production base, involving an investment of $134 million,

was completed in 2001. Covering an area of 96,000 square meters, the base is AstraZeneca's largest production base in Asia. Kroyer noted that at present, 80% of the company's medicines sold on Chinese mainland are produced in the Wuxi base.

AstraZeneca now sells several dozens of medicines in China mainly directed at cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and central nervous system conditions. The company also sells chemotherapy agents for cancer treatment. AstraZeneca ranked first in terms of sales volume of prescription medicines among the transnational pharmaceutical companies in China in 2004.

AstraZeneca has attached importance to its cooperation with Chinese research institutions for developing medicines or clinical studies. In 2002, the company established its East Asian Clinical Research Center, focusing on cardiovascular and respiratory systems, in Shanghai. So far, AstraZeneca has completed 34 clinical research projects in China with the participation of more than 600 local scientific research institutions.

One of the world's leading multinational pharmaceutical enterprises, AstraZeneca is mainly engaged in the research, development, production and sales of medicines. Headquartered in London, the company has 11 R&D centers and 31 production bases worldwide and its products are sold in over 100 countries and regions. Sales revenue stood at more than $21.4 billion in 2004.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)

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