Latest news with #PascalSoriot
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why AstraZeneca risks Trump's wrath with bet on China
When Pascal Soriot flew in to speak at the Boao Forum in China this year, many expected him to keep a low profile. With Donald Trump and Xi Jinping firing shots at each other in an ever-escalating trade row, it was presumed that the AstraZeneca boss would want to keep his head down. Yet Soriot was happy to make his position clear: 'The two large innovators in our industry today are the US and China,' the no-nonsense Frenchman said on the sidelines of the forum, and China was set to 'emerge as really a driving force for innovation in our sector'. Days later, Soriot was one of 40 Western executives summoned to a gathering with Xi Jinping, orchestrated to cement ties between global corporations and Beijing. 'China is absolutely open for us,' Soriot said. Such statements threaten to thrust AstraZeneca into the spotlight at a time when US and China leaders are painfully sensitive to where companies are spending their cash. In recent months, Trump has sought to exert growing power over where companies are investing. In particular, he is keen to ensure it is not in China. Trump has threatened heavy tariffs on Apple unless it moves its manufacturing out of China and the trade deal with the UK struck earlier this year handed the US a 'veto' over Chinese investment in Britain. While the US president's focus has so far been on pulling manufacturing jobs back to America, many company chiefs are wary of finding themselves in Trump's firing line. For pharmaceutical companies, there are particular risks. Trump this year threatened new tariffs on pharmaceuticals, adding: 'When they hear that, they will leave China.' The US is currently in the middle of an investigation into drug imports, which could be a precursor to action. For AstraZeneca, which does not ship drugs between the US and China, it may seem like they should be immune. Yet Trump's unpredictability means nothing can be assumed – and the president has been clear he wants companies to invest in the US, not China. The president's push to make multinationals choose between the US and China is awkward for AstraZeneca, Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company. AstraZeneca has been in China for more than 30 years and is the largest drugmaker in the country. It made its first foray into the US in the 1970s and now makes 42pc of its revenues there. Both countries have benefited from recent investment from the British drugmaker. Last November, AstraZeneca put $3.5bn into the US to expand its research and manufacturing facilities. It unveiled a $2.5bn (£2.6bn) new centre in Beijing in March. Two weeks ago, AstraZeneca announced a new strategic partnership with China's CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group, worth up to $5.3bn. Michel Demaré, the company's chairman, insists the business is above the fray. 'When you are a global company like AstraZeneca you have always to cope with geopolitical risk,' he told the Financial Times in 2023. 'You have to try to manage that without getting too involved.' Yet taking a studiously neutral approach is becoming ever more difficult. When it comes to Trump, 'the company will have to manage a tightrope to ensure that they are not going to be penalised for their commitment to China and the wider Asian region,' says Ketan Patel, a fund manager at Whitefriars who is an AstraZeneca investor. Over the past few years Soriot has not been shy in voicing his admiration of China. This year, he said that the nation was paving the way in fast-moving areas including antibody drug conjugates and cell therapy. 'They're very committed to China,' says Emily Field, a Barclays analyst who follows the company. 'And that's because there's going to be this huge volume opportunity where Chinese local players are not able to produce drugs.' Patel believes recent pledges from AstraZeneca to do more research in the country and strike deals with Chinese biotechs are a risk move. 'Research and development is a long duration activity and the current partnerships with local players is very much at a nascent stage.' It is not hard to see why some investors are nervous. This year, more than 100 of AstraZeneca's former sales staff were jailed in China over alleged medical insurance fraud. The National Healthcare Security Administration claimed AstraZeneca staff had been involved in scamming medical insurance companies. At the same time, Chinese authorities have been investigating alleged illegal imports of unapproved medicines. AstraZeneca has said it risks millions of dollars worth of fines. Perhaps most seriously for AstraZeneca is the situation surrounding Leon Wang, its country president in China. He was then detained in China last autumn amid an investigation into AstraZeneca's activities in the country and remains in detention today. AstraZeneca says it has been unable to speak to him. 'We all think [about] and miss Leon,' Soriot said this year. 'We certainly wish him the best and we all hope that he's in good, good shape and dealing with a very difficult situation in the best possible way.' Wang has been put on 'extended leave' and replaced for now. Amnesty International said earlier this year the case raised 'difficult ethical questions' about AstraZeneca staying in China. The drugs giant argues that its role as a manufacturer of medicine means it has a moral right to be in as many countries around the world as it can. It has, for example, kept operating in Russia even as other companies have quit over the war in Ukraine. Still, AstraZeneca is not just remaining in China but ramping up its investments. With Beijing pushing to make the country a better place to create new drugs and run clinical trials, Soriot has hailed the country's pharmaceutical market as 'incredible'. By the end of last year, AstraZeneca had over 200 projects in development in China. The company, which currently has around 40 medicines in China, has around 100 new medicines expected to be approved in China in the next five years. Soriot argues that he has little choice but to turn to China, given ever increasing tax and red tape in Europe make it harder to get things done. In April, Soriot said the continent was 'falling behind in attracting R&D and manufacturing investments, putting its ability to protect the health of its own people at risk'. There is a potential for things to change. This week, UK ministers have been thrashing out plans to try to boost Britain's competitiveness in an effort to attract more life sciences investment from the likes of AstraZeneca. On Thursday, talks were under way to try to come to an agreement on the contentious issue of NHS charges paid by drugmakers. Labour is expected to publish its own overarching life sciences strategy imminently. For now, though, AstraZeneca is focused on China – despite the risks of angering Trump. 'Of course, the US remains extremely important,' Soriot said in April. 'It's the biggest innovation part of the industry. But China is rapidly ramping up and so it's important for us to remain very committed to China.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
AstraZeneca defies Trump to bet on China
When Pascal Soriot flew in to speak at the Boao Forum in China this year, many expected him to keep a low profile. With Donald Trump and Xi Jinping firing shots at each other in an ever-escalating trade row, it was presumed that the AstraZeneca boss would want to keep his head down. Yet Soriot was happy to make his position clear: 'The two large innovators in our industry today are the US and China,' the no-nonsense Frenchman said on the sidelines of the forum, and China was set to 'emerge as really a driving force for innovation in our sector'. Days later, Soriot was one of 40 Western executives summoned to a gathering with Xi Jinping, orchestrated to cement ties between global corporations and Beijing. 'China is absolutely open for us,' Soriot said. Such statements threaten to thrust AstraZeneca into the spotlight at a time when US and China leaders are painfully sensitive to where companies are spending their cash. In recent months, Trump has sought to exert growing power over where companies are investing. In particular, he is keen to ensure it is not in China. Trump has threatened heavy tariffs on Apple unless it moves its manufacturing out of China and the trade deal with the UK struck earlier this year handed the US a 'veto' over Chinese investment in Britain. While the US president's focus has so far been on pulling manufacturing jobs back to America, many company chiefs are wary of finding themselves in Trump's firing line. For pharmaceutical companies, there are particular risks. Trump this year threatened new tariffs on pharmaceuticals, adding: 'When they hear that, they will leave China.' The US is currently in the middle of an investigation into drug imports, which could be a precursor to action. For AstraZeneca, which does not ship drugs between the US and China, it may seem like they should be immune. Yet Trump's unpredictability means nothing can be assumed – and the president has been clear he wants companies to invest in the US, not China. The president's push to make multinationals choose between the US and China is awkward for AstraZeneca, Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company. AstraZeneca has been in China for more than 30 years and is the largest drugmaker in the country. It made its first foray into the US in the 1970s and now makes 42pc of its revenues there. Both countries have benefited from recent investment from the British drugmaker. Last November, AstraZeneca put $3.5bn into the US to expand its research and manufacturing facilities. It unveiled a $2.5bn (£2.6bn) new centre in Beijing in March. Two weeks ago, AstraZeneca announced a new strategic partnership with China's CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group, worth up to $5.3bn. Michel Demaré, the company's chairman, insists the business is above the fray. 'When you are a global company like AstraZeneca you have always to cope with geopolitical risk,' he told the Financial Times in 2023. 'You have to try to manage that without getting too involved.' Yet taking a studiously neutral approach is becoming ever more difficult. When it comes to Trump, 'the company will have to manage a tightrope to ensure that they are not going to be penalised for their commitment to China and the wider Asian region,' says Ketan Patel, a fund manager at Whitefriars who is an AstraZeneca investor. Over the past few years Soriot has not been shy in voicing his admiration of China. This year, he said that the nation was paving the way in fast-moving areas including antibody drug conjugates and cell therapy. 'They're very committed to China,' says Emily Field, a Barclays analyst who follows the company. 'And that's because there's going to be this huge volume opportunity where Chinese local players are not able to produce drugs.' Patel believes recent pledges from AstraZeneca to do more research in the country and strike deals with Chinese biotechs are a risk move. 'Research and development is a long duration activity and the current partnerships with local players is very much at a nascent stage.' It is not hard to see why some investors are nervous. This year, more than 100 of AstraZeneca's former sales staff were jailed in China over alleged medical insurance fraud. The National Healthcare Security Administration claimed AstraZeneca staff had been involved in scamming medical insurance companies. At the same time, Chinese authorities have been investigating alleged illegal imports of unapproved medicines. AstraZeneca has said it risks millions of dollars worth of fines. Perhaps most seriously for AstraZeneca is the situation surrounding Leon Wang, its country president in China. He was then detained in China last autumn amid an investigation into AstraZeneca's activities in the country and remains in detention today. AstraZeneca says it has been unable to speak to him. 'We all think [about] and miss Leon,' Soriot said this year. 'We certainly wish him the best and we all hope that he's in good, good shape and dealing with a very difficult situation in the best possible way.' Wang has been put on 'extended leave' and replaced for now. Amnesty International said earlier this year the case raised 'difficult ethical questions' about AstraZeneca staying in China. The drugs giant argues that its role as a manufacturer of medicine means it has a moral right to be in as many countries around the world as it can. It has, for example, kept operating in Russia even as other companies have quit over the war in Ukraine. 'Incredible' Still, AstraZeneca is not just remaining in China but ramping up its investments. With Beijing pushing to make the country a better place to create new drugs and run clinical trials, Soriot has hailed the country's pharmaceutical market as 'incredible'. By the end of last year, AstraZeneca had over 200 projects in development in China. The company, which currently has around 40 medicines in China, has around 100 new medicines expected to be approved in China in the next five years. Soriot argues that he has little choice but to turn to China, given ever increasing tax and red tape in Europe make it harder to get things done. In April, Soriot said the continent was 'falling behind in attracting R&D and manufacturing investments, putting its ability to protect the health of its own people at risk'. There is a potential for things to change. This week, UK ministers have been thrashing out plans to try to boost Britain's competitiveness in an effort to attract more life sciences investment from the likes of AstraZeneca. On Thursday, talks were under way to try to come to an agreement on the contentious issue of NHS charges paid by drugmakers. Labour is expected to publish its own overarching life sciences strategy imminently. For now, though, AstraZeneca is focused on China – despite the risks of angering Trump. 'Of course, the US remains extremely important,' Soriot said in April. 'It's the biggest innovation part of the industry. But China is rapidly ramping up and so it's important for us to remain very committed to China.'
Sydney Morning Herald
02-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
China's latest boom is sounding alarm bells in America
It marked a watershed moment for the pharmaceutical sector, which had long written off China as a nation that excelled in drug manufacturing and 'copycat' treatments but not medicine discovery. Akeso's debut on the world stage has been described as a 'DeepSeek' moment for the industry – a reference to the sudden emergence of a highly advanced AI chatbot out of China earlier this year, which took US tech giants by surprise and wiped close to $US1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) off global stock markets. Summit's shares are up more than 600 per cent since first announcing the lung cancer trial results. 'The two large innovators in our industry today are the US and China,' Sir Pascal Soriot, the boss of AstraZeneca, said in March. 'China is, I think over the next five to 10 years, going to emerge as really a driving force for innovation in our sector.' It sets the stage for a growing tussle between the US and China over the future of drug development. Donald Trump has been clear that he wants pharmaceutical giants to be investing more in America. Biopharmaceutical companies and their suppliers account for 4.9 million jobs and are worth around $US1.65 trillion ($2.6 trillion) to the US. However, drug companies are increasingly turning east when it comes to investing in new drugs and clinical trials. Not only is China becoming an easier place to research and create new drugs, but the Trump administration is also shaking faith in the US. Vaccine sceptic health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has prompted much anxiety in the industry. By contrast, China is 'very business friendly and stable' Novartis boss Vas Narasimhan said in May. Drugs boom Beijing has been attempting to win more pharma investment for years – and specifically attempting to boost funding for drug innovation. Drug discovery was a key pillar of the 'Healthy China 2030″ strategy unveiled in 2016, aimed at helping the country cope with its ageing population. Loading The focus has already paid dividends. Over the past three years alone, the number of Chinese drugs in development has doubled to 4,391. Almost half are either novel drugs or something known as a 'fast-follower', where treatments are quickly developed on the back of breakthroughs by rivals. According to Barclays, the number of so-called 'first-in-class' drugs under development in China rose to around 120 last year, having been in the single digits in 2015. First-in-class essentially measures the level of innovation by looking at the highest development stage a drug has reached and the earliest time it reached that stage. The growth in China is unmatched. While the US, which has long been regarded as the world leader in drug discovery, has more first-in-class drugs in development, at 151, the growth rate has been much slower. 'The shift isn't incremental, it's tectonic,' says Abhishek Jha, the founder of life sciences data company Elucidata. One crucial part of Beijing's push to drive more drug discovery has been speeding up clinical trials. In China, regulators allow businesses to get studies up and running quicker, and then update them as they progress. This can provide early data on new drugs, which is a major draw for multinational companies looking for novel treatments that show signs of working well. It has sparked a boom in studies taking place in China. According to figures from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), China accounted for around 18 per cent of clinical trials sponsored by companies in 2023 compared to just 5 per cent in 2013. Meanwhile, the US proportion has dipped from 28 per cent to 23 per cent. Clinical trial enrolment in China is surging, with around 40 per cent now having more than 100 participants. Bitter pill Fewer regulatory barriers are just one of a number of reasons pharma companies are turning to China. Workers, too, are less averse to working unsociable hours than they would be in Western nations. Shirley Chen, a Barclays analyst, says: 'Chinese scientists may be happier to accept very long work hours and people like hospital personnel [where trials take place] are actually okay to do night shifts.' Major drug giants are now scouring China for potential deals. The likes of GSK, AstraZeneca and Merck have all struck deals worth more than $US1 billion to get the rights to develop and sell Chinese drugs outside the country. The rise of China's pharmaceutical industry has started to raise alarm bells in the US. Trump may be focused on returning manufacturing jobs to the US, yet some say he should be concerned that more high-quality jobs and research posts are starting to drift to China. 'Five years ago, US pharmaceutical companies didn't license any new drugs from China,' Scott Gottlied, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, wrote earlier this month. 'By 2024, one third of their new compounds were coming from Chinese biotechnology firms.' He warned that the shift of clinical trials to Asia could undermine innovation in the US as companies choose to 'divert funds that might otherwise bolster innovation hubs such as Boston's Kendall Square or North Carolina's Research Triangle'. Loading 'The US biotechnology industry was the world's envy, but if we're not careful, every drug could be made in China.' While Trump exempted most countries' pharmaceutical industries from tariffs in his 'liberation day' blitz, China was not spared. That means physically manufacturing drugs for the US in China is out of the question, for now at least.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
China's latest boom is sounding alarm bells in America
It marked a watershed moment for the pharmaceutical sector, which had long written off China as a nation that excelled in drug manufacturing and 'copycat' treatments but not medicine discovery. Akeso's debut on the world stage has been described as a 'DeepSeek' moment for the industry – a reference to the sudden emergence of a highly advanced AI chatbot out of China earlier this year, which took US tech giants by surprise and wiped close to $US1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) off global stock markets. Summit's shares are up more than 600 per cent since first announcing the lung cancer trial results. 'The two large innovators in our industry today are the US and China,' Sir Pascal Soriot, the boss of AstraZeneca, said in March. 'China is, I think over the next five to 10 years, going to emerge as really a driving force for innovation in our sector.' It sets the stage for a growing tussle between the US and China over the future of drug development. Donald Trump has been clear that he wants pharmaceutical giants to be investing more in America. Biopharmaceutical companies and their suppliers account for 4.9 million jobs and are worth around $US1.65 trillion ($2.6 trillion) to the US. However, drug companies are increasingly turning east when it comes to investing in new drugs and clinical trials. Not only is China becoming an easier place to research and create new drugs, but the Trump administration is also shaking faith in the US. Vaccine sceptic health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has prompted much anxiety in the industry. By contrast, China is 'very business friendly and stable' Novartis boss Vas Narasimhan said in May. Drugs boom Beijing has been attempting to win more pharma investment for years – and specifically attempting to boost funding for drug innovation. Drug discovery was a key pillar of the 'Healthy China 2030″ strategy unveiled in 2016, aimed at helping the country cope with its ageing population. Loading The focus has already paid dividends. Over the past three years alone, the number of Chinese drugs in development has doubled to 4,391. Almost half are either novel drugs or something known as a 'fast-follower', where treatments are quickly developed on the back of breakthroughs by rivals. According to Barclays, the number of so-called 'first-in-class' drugs under development in China rose to around 120 last year, having been in the single digits in 2015. First-in-class essentially measures the level of innovation by looking at the highest development stage a drug has reached and the earliest time it reached that stage. The growth in China is unmatched. While the US, which has long been regarded as the world leader in drug discovery, has more first-in-class drugs in development, at 151, the growth rate has been much slower. 'The shift isn't incremental, it's tectonic,' says Abhishek Jha, the founder of life sciences data company Elucidata. One crucial part of Beijing's push to drive more drug discovery has been speeding up clinical trials. In China, regulators allow businesses to get studies up and running quicker, and then update them as they progress. This can provide early data on new drugs, which is a major draw for multinational companies looking for novel treatments that show signs of working well. It has sparked a boom in studies taking place in China. According to figures from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), China accounted for around 18 per cent of clinical trials sponsored by companies in 2023 compared to just 5 per cent in 2013. Meanwhile, the US proportion has dipped from 28 per cent to 23 per cent. Clinical trial enrolment in China is surging, with around 40 per cent now having more than 100 participants. Bitter pill Fewer regulatory barriers are just one of a number of reasons pharma companies are turning to China. Workers, too, are less averse to working unsociable hours than they would be in Western nations. Shirley Chen, a Barclays analyst, says: 'Chinese scientists may be happier to accept very long work hours and people like hospital personnel [where trials take place] are actually okay to do night shifts.' Major drug giants are now scouring China for potential deals. The likes of GSK, AstraZeneca and Merck have all struck deals worth more than $US1 billion to get the rights to develop and sell Chinese drugs outside the country. The rise of China's pharmaceutical industry has started to raise alarm bells in the US. Trump may be focused on returning manufacturing jobs to the US, yet some say he should be concerned that more high-quality jobs and research posts are starting to drift to China. 'Five years ago, US pharmaceutical companies didn't license any new drugs from China,' Scott Gottlied, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, wrote earlier this month. 'By 2024, one third of their new compounds were coming from Chinese biotechnology firms.' He warned that the shift of clinical trials to Asia could undermine innovation in the US as companies choose to 'divert funds that might otherwise bolster innovation hubs such as Boston's Kendall Square or North Carolina's Research Triangle'. Loading 'The US biotechnology industry was the world's envy, but if we're not careful, every drug could be made in China.' While Trump exempted most countries' pharmaceutical industries from tariffs in his 'liberation day' blitz, China was not spared. That means physically manufacturing drugs for the US in China is out of the question, for now at least.
CNBC
02-06-2025
- Health
- CNBC
AstraZeneca CEO on breast cancer drug trial: This is the future of cancer treatment
CNBC's Angelica Peebles and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot join 'Squawk Box' to discuss the company's breast cancer drug trial, the Trump administration's 'most favored nation' policy, R&D innovation, and more.
