An accompanying iCampus will serve as a dynamic incubation platform for start-ups by facilitating close collaboration and partnerships with universities, innovation and technology (I&T) parks, innovators in biotech and biomedical ventures and the financial sector.

AstraZeneca, which is headquartered in Britain, has been an established presence in Hong Kong since 1990. It has long seen the city as an important part of its global R&D structure to support its specialised work in developing and supplying life-changing medicines for countless patients.

A case in point is its co-incubation programme with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation – a government-backed innovation hub working to foster innovation and technology development in the city – unveiled in 2021, to support biomedical start-ups developing integrated oncology solutions. Through the initiative, AstraZeneca provides enrolled local and overseas start-ups with access to its connections in the mainland and global markets.

AstraZeneca has revolutionised the treatment of many diseases through notable scientific advances in fields ranging from oncology and biopharmaceuticals to diabetic kidney disease and genome sequencing.

In deciding to invest in the new facilities, the company’s aim is to advance its frontier research in these areas and others such as gene and cell therapies – considered to be next-generation therapeutics – and vaccines.

Another priority is to play a full part in supporting the growth of new ventures which can contribute to the expansion of the life sciences and health technology ecosystem in Hong Kong, Southern China’s Greater Bay Area and beyond.

Those efforts are complemented by being one of the strategic partners of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (Oases), a recent Hong Kong government initiative designed to attract foreign direct investment in forward-looking industries deemed vital to cementing the city’s role as an international innovation and technology hub.

“The creation of Oases, which is populated and led by people of really high calibre, is a signal of the Hong Kong government’s commitment to having a collaborative and constructive partnership approach,” Shaun Grady, AstraZeneca’s senior vice-president for business development operations, says.

“Even though we have had a presence in Hong Kong for 30 years, to move to the next scale of investment and presence is not a trivial matter.”

More than assisting businesses with practicalities such as recruiting talent, navigating regulations and raising funds, the Oases team communicates closely with partners to understand their particular needs. In this case, those would include tackling complex issues such as intellectual property and making sure the company maximises the benefits of the government’s policies to develop the city into a health and medical innovation hub.

In that regard, AstraZeneca has been quick to acknowledge Hong Kong’s strategic importance for its dealings with both mainland China counterparts and international markets, with its “one country, two systems” framework and global connections.

“If you look at our footprint, it really is truly global, with a notable presence in China, Asia and other emerging markets,” Grady says.

“We are a science-led and patient-focused organisation, and people who have seen our progress and advancement over the last decade can see that science is at the centre of everything we do.”

He says that at present, there is a particular sense of excitement among the company’s more than 80,000 staff about breakthrough research originating in China. That has seen Shanghai confirmed as one of five global strategic centres this year, alongside one in the UK, one in Sweden and two in the United States.

It has spurred a string of seven acquisitions or partnerships involving China-based firms over the past 12 months, amounting to an overall investment of more than US$6 billion.

These moves will help to address the needs of people with cardio-metabolic conditions and obesity, accelerate work on cell therapy and haematology, and provide best-in-class treatment for patients with blood cancers.

“This is a reflection of the past two decades we see from mainland China, the growth of the ecosystem that drives growth in the whole industry,” Dr He Jing, senior vice-president and head of AstraZeneca R&D China, says. “We also see the Hong Kong government placing bioscience and biopharmaceutical development as a priority in its overarching policy design. So this is the right timing for expansion.”

More specifically, the new Hong Kong R&D hub will build on the solid foundation of work done since the 1990s. To date, the focus has been on a small team managing local participation and enrolling patients in global phase three clinical studies.

However, now the intention is to move to full functionality, mobilising more resources and expanding collaboration with clinical institutions and investigators.

“We recognise the increasing scientific impact Hong Kong can have in all aspects from basic research to leveraging data,” He says.

“We all say that data is the new currency, so we must be able to translate it into insights that inform our R&D decisions, and we must make good use of advances in technology across the life sciences sector. For us, Hong Kong can be part of the engine.”

Two things in particular convinced the company that now was the time to invest. The first was the Hong Kong government’s clear focus and supportive policies on I&T and medical research and development. The second was the wider commitment to building a stronger ecosystem, meaning that the overall push for transformative change will be a genuinely collective effort.

Diverse examples serve to illustrate the point. For instance, the authorities have put in place a new “1+” mechanism to speed up the approval of new drugs for life-threatening or rare diseases, once local experts have given the green light. Also, proof of approval from one regulatory body, rather than the current two, will be allowed.

In addition, efforts are under way to establish a preparatory office for the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation. Its main purpose will be to use “primary evaluation” based on clinical data to approve drugs and medical devices.

AstraZeneca recently organised a visit to Hong Kong by representatives of about 80 mainland-China-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises, with the mission to give them a better understanding of the city’s healthcare ecosystem.

These businesses included both large-scale listed firms and start-ups engaging in pioneering pharmaceutical technologies, and they were also interested in finding out how to leverage Hong Kong’s status as an international city for their overseas expansion strategies.

“We tend to establish R&D hubs around life science expertise, ecosystems and clusters,” Grady says. “Hong Kong is a great example of that and, besides being a leading financial centre, it is also highly competitive in terms of infrastructure, talent, healthcare and gateway access to mainland China. It is ideally situated and has all the characteristics we look for.”