The unit is the first clinical research centre from an international pharmaceutical company spanning East Asia (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea). With its establishment, AstraZeneca becomes the first international pharmaceutical company in China to localise not only manufacturing and sales and marketing functions, but also an R&D centre overseeing East Asia clinical research and development.

Mr. Steen Kroyer, President, AstraZeneca China, said, “With the establishment of the Centre, AstraZeneca China is taking an important step in building a strong presence in the Chinese Health Care market.”

For many pharmaceutical companies, it was not until recently that China was included as part of global clinical trials for new drugs. For any new medicine entering China, the State Drug Administration (SDA) requires additional clinical trials to be performed in China, where trials are already on par with international standards and are conducted by high-calibre physicians. The establishment of the new research centre confirms that China will be a critical component of AstraZeneca’s future global trials, and therefore could significantly reduce the time for AstraZeneca’s new medicines to be made available to Chinese patients.

The research centre will seek to develop closer relations with Chinese health institutions and organisations. The significant number of high quality medical talent available in Shanghai was the reason that AstraZeneca chose to locate the center there. In 2003, the ACRU-EA aims to employ over 40 staff.

Currently employing 1,000 staff, AstraZeneca China operation began around 100 years ago. Its Wuxi manufacturing centre opened in 2001 with an investment of $100 million. This represents the company’s largest investment in Asia, and one of the largest investments in China by a multi-national pharmaceutical company.

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with sales of over $16.4 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology, anaesthesia (including pain management), cardiovascular, central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory products. AstraZeneca spends over USD10 million every working day on research and development.