While not everything appears rosy in one of AstraZeneca’s (LSE: AZN) major markets, the company has announced a huge investment in another.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has suffered in the stock market on the back of news that its China business president Leon Wang had been detained by Chinese authorities amid a reported fraud probe.
AstraZeneca has invested heavily in China, making the investigations into its business there a concern, but its largest market remains the USA, where the company announced $3.5 billion of capital investment on Tuesday, in the wake of Donald Trump’s win in the Presidential election the prior week.
The funds will be used to expand the company’s research and manufacturing footprint by the end of 2026. This includes $2 billion of new investment, creating more than a thousand new, high-skilled jobs contributing to the growth of the US economy.
AstraZeneca’s expanded footprint in the USA will include an R&D center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, a manufacturing facility for biologics in Maryland, cell therapy production capacity on the west and east coasts and specialty manufacturing in Texas.
Sir Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said: “Our multibillion investment reflects the attractiveness of the business environment together with the quality of talent and innovation capabilities here in the USA.
“By expanding our R&D and manufacturing footprint, we aim to enhance the development of cutting-edge therapies and support the US leadership in healthcare innovation.”
These US investments are the first of a series of steps to help deliver AstraZeneca’s ambition to achieve $80 billion in total revenue by 2030, as set out in May this year.
A key element of the strategy is accelerating the company’s development in the USA, which currently generates 44% of its total revenue.
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