Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po (second row, seventh right); Executive Vice President, International and China President of AstraZeneca, Leon Wang (second row, sixth right); Director-General of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, Philip Yung (second row, eighth right), and other guests at the Plaques Unveiling Ceremony for the Establishment of AstraZeneca R&D Centre and iCampus in Hong Kong, Nov 24, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)

HONG KONG – Drug giant AstraZeneca is setting up a research and development center in Hong Kong which will focus on medicines in key areas such as cell and gene therapies.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Friday witnessed the plaque unveiling ceremony at the Central Government Offices for the AstraZeneca R&D center and Hong Kong iCampus.

The Hong Kong iCampus is an incubation platform which assists in the business expansion of startups in related areas and engages in collaboration with Hong Kong universities, scientific research institutions as well as innovation and technology parks.

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Hong Kong is fully capable of becoming a world-class life and health technology cluster, said Paul Chan

Delivering his speech at the ceremony, Chan said the establishment of the AstraZeneca R&D center in Hong Kong can reinforce the frontier research of distinguished medical research institutions, experts and scholars of Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to create new momentum for pharmaceutical research and development in the region.

The establishment of the iCampus will bring together relevant startups to build a more vibrant medical innovation ecosystem, he added.

Hong Kong is developing into an international I&T center with the country's staunch support while enjoying various advantages in developing the life and health technology industry, said Chan.

Hong Kong is fully capable of becoming a world-class life and health technology cluster, and pharmaceutical enterprises around the globe are welcome to leverage Hong Kong's advantages to expand their businesses, he said.

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po speaks at the Plaques Unveiling Ceremony for the Establishment of AstraZeneca R&D Centre and iCampus in Hong Kong at the Central Government Offices, Nov 24, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)

The Cambridge-headquartered global drug giant also organized a group of about 80 mainland pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises to come and visit Hong Kong, comprising large-scale listed enterprises and startups engaging in pioneering pharmaceutical technologies.

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AstraZeneca is a strategic enterprise partner of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES). Since its establishment last December, OASES has met representatives from nearly 300 enterprises. Of them, about 30 strategic enterprise partners will set up businesses or increase their business scale in Hong Kong.