AstraZeneca’s Chinese drug development and manufacturing expansion comes amid China’s growing prevalence on the global pharma stage. Pharma giant AstraZeneca is pledging $15bn to fund an R&D and manufacturing capacity expansion in China – marking a significant investment into a country touted as an up-and-coming pharma powerhouse. The multi-billion-dollar investment, which is set to run through to 2030, will see AstraZeneca improve its cell therapy and radioconjugate discovery, development and manufacturing capabilities in China. As per a recent report from GlobalData, parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology, Chinese companies are responsible for 20% of the drugs in development globally. This trend has seen many global pharma players secure lucrative drug licensing deals and restock their pipelines with Chinese biotechs.