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AstraZeneca Oncology R&D Head On China Biotech Innovation

Looking Again At New Deals

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

AstraZeneca has been drawn back to drug development innovation in China after accelerating its rate of licensing deals with biotechs in the country over the past few months. Meanwhile, the UK multinational has also been building a network ecosystem together with a Chinese investment bank to take a long-term view in the country, a senior R&D executive told Scrip in an interview.

China drug R&D
China's biotech innovation has attracted AstraZeneca back to deal-making in the country • Source: Shutterstock

AstraZeneca PLC was once known as the sort of multinational that once moved quickly to get its hands on an innovative drug asset originated in China. Over the past few years, however, it has been largely missing from the deal-making scene whereby various Chinese drug candidates have been scooped up by a collection of international drug makers.

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