Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca yesterday partnered investment bank China International Capital Corporation (CICC) to create the $1bn Healthcare Industrial Fund and drive healthcare innovation in China.
The Healthcare Industrial Fund will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises and will particularly seek out opportunities in the drug and diagnostics spaces, as well as startups that use artificial intelligence and digital technologies to improve healthcare.
The vehicle will invest in domestic firms and international businesses looking to expand into China. AstraZeneca is particularly keen on backing companies based at its innovation hub, the Wuxi International Life Science Innovation Campus, opened two months ago.
The corporate did not specify if it had already raised any money for the fund, or who it expected to attract as limited partners, though chief executive Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg that AstraZeneca was not the majority investor in the fund.
Soriot said in a prepared statement: “China is rapidly emerging as a global scientific powerhouse, which is why we have taken this exciting decision to follow the science, by expanding our R&D presence and by working with the investment community.
“We will make the most of our global resources and network to strengthen the connections between China and the rest of the world in the field of healthcare innovation and, ultimately, bring the benefits of that work to patients everywhere.”
Leon Wang, executive vice-president, international region, and China president, at CICC, added: “The new fund will inject vitality into the small and medium-sized healthcare innovation enterprises with promising development prospects, so that they can achieve substantial growth in China.
“With this new commitment, AstraZeneca will further increase its contribution to the development of healthcare in China, and to exporting domestic innovations that benefit patients worldwide.”
