With $5B in China sales, AstraZeneca doubles down on Chinese biopharma innovation

CAM­BRIDGE, UK — As­traZeneca said it will con­tin­ue to be the con­duit for shar­ing Chi­nese in­no­va­tion with the rest of the world, but will es­tab­lish a ded­i­cat­ed sup­ply chain for the Chi­nese mar­ket amid geopo­lit­i­cal ten­sions.

“We are hope­ful for the best and plan for the worst,” CEO Pas­cal So­ri­ot told re­porters Tues­day dur­ing the com­pa­ny’s in­vestor day at its R&D cen­ter in Cam­bridge, UK.

As­traZeneca, one of the largest multi­na­tion­al phar­ma play­ers in Chi­na, has main­tained its com­mit­ment to the re­gion both as a mar­ket and an R&D en­gine even as US law­mak­ers di­al up scruti­ny of Chi­nese bio­phar­ma sup­pli­ers and seek to ban them from do­ing busi­ness with US com­pa­nies.

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