AstraZeneca forms 50-50 JV with SDIC

Source: Xinhua | 2017-11-28

GLOBAL biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said yesterday it had formed a joint venture with a private equity unit of China’s State Development and Investment Corporation to develop new drugs, focusing on oncology, cardiovascular, metabolic and respiratory diseases.

The 50-50 joint venture, Dizal (Jiangsu) Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, will have a registration capital of US$130 million. It holds exclusive rights to commercially develop three potential medicines already in pre-clinical development at AstraZeneca.

“We’re reinforcing with this joint venture our long-standing and strong commitment to China and we aim to accelerate the local discovery and development of innovative, affordable medicines for patients by joining forces with the SDIC Fund,” AstraZeneca Chief Executove Officer Pascal Soriot said.

AstraZeneca will also inject more capital and resources to support local research and development as well as bringing new projects to Dizal as the joint venture develops. The SDIC Fund will contribute money and expertise to establish strategic tie-ups in China.