AstraZeneca (AZN.L) aims to build up its already strong position in China by making and developing more medicines locally, and will invest more than $800 million (527.8 million pounds) in the country over the next 10 years, it said on Wednesday.
The British drugmaker’s decision to step up investment in China, notably through a strategic alliance with local firm WuXi AppTec, chimes with Beijing’s desire to see more treatments made in China.
The upside for AstraZeneca should be that locally produced medicines win faster approval from the China Food and Drug Administration, rather than being delayed for years as often happens with imported products.
