AstraZeneca announced on Mar. 19 that it will build a commercial cell therapy manufacturing base in Shanghai, aiming to become the first global drugmaker with end-to-end cell therapy capabilities in China.
The move is part of AstraZeneca's broader plan to invest more than $15 billion in China by 2030, expanding its capacity for producing advanced treatments such as cell therapies. The company said this investment would help it support the planned launches of autologous cell therapies, including its BCMA/CD19 dual-target candidate AZD0120.
According to a statement on AstraZeneca's Chinese website, the new facility will be located in a free trade zone in Shanghai and will supply CAR-T cell therapies both to China and other Asian markets. The company also plans to establish an innovation center at a science park in Shanghai, which will focus on early-stage research, viral vector and plasmid development, analytical testing, and clinical manufacturing.
AZD0120 was acquired through AstraZeneca’s takeover of Gracell Biotechnologies for around $1 billion upfront. The company recently started a global Phase 3 trial of AZD0120 in multiple myeloma and is conducting early-phase studies for lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Manufacturing is critical for these therapies because they are produced from patients’ own T cells; logistics and production reliability are key challenges that have affected other companies working with CAR-T products.
AstraZeneca said it is investing across the entire cell therapy supply chain to avoid setbacks experienced by competitors. In addition to building facilities, the company is collaborating with groups in China and the United Kingdom to pair Chinese innovation with global scientific and financial resources.
The new investments further strengthen AstraZeneca’s ties to Shanghai, where one of its global research and development centers is already based.
