AstraZeneca and CSPC Pharmaceutical are strengthening their partnership by establishing a new biologics manufacturing joint venture in China.
The two companies have signed a contract to form a 51-49 joint venture manufacturing facility in Shijiazhuang, China, where CSPC’s headquarters are located, the Chinese company said in a release (PDF) Wednesday.
CSPC, which contributes 51% of the capital, will offer its AI-driven good manufacturing practice system, as well as drug manufacturing construction and operational capabilities, which will be combined with AstraZeneca’s experience in global quality standards and supply chain management.
The business will initially focus on the production of “mutually agreed biologics drug substances for the global markets,” CSPC said, adding that the two owners will further explore adding more products to the mix in the future.
The exact size of investment was not immediately disclosed. The money will likely count toward the $15 billion total that AZ committed to investing in China through 2030 in a plan unveiled at the beginning of 2026.
The latest CSPC enterprise follows a string of manufacturing expansions by AZ in China.
In March, AZ announced it will build a commercial cell therapy manufacturing base in Shanghai that will supply autologous CAR-T therapies to China and other Asian markets.
A year before that, the British pharma outlined a $2.5 billion outlay to boost its presence in Beijing. Part of that initiative includes a joint venture with BioKangtai that will give AZ its first vaccine manufacturing facility in China.
Through a series of investments now totaling about $886 million, AZ is building a production compound in Qingdao, China, for inhalants such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease inhaler Breztri Aerosphere.
The latest manufacturing tie-up also follows years of R&D collaborations between AZ and CSPC. In 2024, AZ paid the Shijiazhuang-based company $100 million upfront for a preclinical oral Lp(a) inhibitor for cardiovascular disease.
The two firms followed with a potential $5.3 billion pact to use CSPC’s AI platform to discover new oral drugs for a range of chronic diseases.
Earlier this year, AZ handed CSPC $1.2 billion in upfront cash for the ex-China rights to a portfolio of once-monthly weight loss programs. The deal value could eventually swell to $18.5 billion if everything pans out.
With $3.5 billion in revenues from China in the first half of 2026, AZ remains the largest foreign pharma in the country by sales, even though the number represents a 5% decline at constant currencies.
Just a few days ago, the British pharma struck a potential $1.5 billion deal to acquire the FDA-approved EGFR inhibitor Zegfrovy from Dizal Pharmaceutical, a joint venture that AZ formed in 2017 by spinning out its China innovation center.