Following $134millions investment in a manufacturing plant at Wuxi in 2001, AZ have announced a further $35millions investment in the site. In May 2006 AZ announced its intention to invest $100millions in R & D in China.

AstraZeneca Wins Second Award for Investment in China

AstraZeneca has won the 48 Club Group award for UK Outward Investor of the Year 2007 recognising the company’s considerable investment in China. The award was handed over at a ceremony at The Guildhall in London today. The activities of the 48 Group Club, established in 1953, are primarily relevant to managers leading the development of businesses in China for British organisations. Member companies and institutions vary in size and come from all sectors including industry, commerce, government, education, sports, culture and the law.

John Ramsey, Vice President of Development, AstraZeneca, who received the award, said, " We feel very honoured to be recognised as the UK Outward Investor in this award scheme. After years of rigorous investments, AstraZeneca China has developed into a well-established organisation including a state-of-the-art manufacturing site in Wuxi, which is AstraZeneca’s biggest manufacturing investment in Asia. Our Innovation Centre China announced last year will be one of the most advanced scientific research centres outside of our traditional areas of UK, Sweden and USA. We will continue to follow the concept of "In China, For China" and be dedicated to developing more innovative medicines to benefit Chinese patients."

In recent years, AstraZeneca has become the leading multinational pharmaceutical company in China in prescription sales, with 2,900 employees and 23 regional sales offices in the biggest cities across the country. The company was one of the first multinational companies to conduct large-scale international multi-centre clinical trials in China. In 2001, a $134m state-of-the-art manufacturing facility was inaugurated in Wuxi. Recently, the company has announced a further $35m investment in the site.

In May 2006, AstraZeneca announced its intention to invest $100m in R&D, focused primarily on establishing the AstraZeneca Innovation Centre China (ICC), a leading edge biomarker research centre initially targeting cancer therapies specifically relevant for Chinese patients. Cancer has become the No. 1 killer of Chinese patients.

This is the second award won by AstraZeneca China in the last few months. In December 2006, AstraZeneca was named the winner of the Pacific Star Award as a UK-based company demonstrating exceptional commitment to business in China and or Hong Kong in the Cathay Pacific Awards.