AstraZeneca to upgrade its Wuxi facility, expanding its role in global drug supply

AstraZeneca holds a ceremony to mark the start of renovations at its Wuxi Site. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

AstraZeneca announced plans to invest nearly 200 million yuan ($29.8 million) to upgrade its New Drug Development and Supply Building at its site in Wuxi National Hi-Tech District, also known as WND, on Sept 17, strengthening the site's role in the development, production and global supply of innovative medicines.

The upgraded building will support the development and manufacture of AstraZeneca's investigational cardiovascular medicines, as well as their global supply following commercial launch. This will allow the WND site to become involved earlier in the manufacturing process and is expected to position it as AstraZeneca's first site in the Asia-Pacific region capable of supporting the global launch and supply of new medicines.

The renovated facility is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2029, with an expected annual capacity of up to 400 million tablets.

The project will also introduce dry granulation technology, which does not require organic solvents used in conventional wet granulation, supporting more sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing.

For WND, the investment further strengthens the district's biopharmaceutical sector and its links to global pharmaceutical supply chains. It is also the latest development following AstraZeneca's announcement earlier this year that it plans to invest more than 100 billion yuan in China by 2030.

AstraZeneca's WND site has been operating since 2001 and currently supplies more than 70 markets worldwide. In 2024, it joined the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network, becoming Jiangsu's first pharmaceutical Lighthouse Factory.