About the sponsor

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, formed in 1999 following the merger of Astra AB and Zeneca group PLC. We provide innovative, effective medicines in 6 important areas of medical need: anesthesia, cancer, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neuroscience and respiratory. Many of our products are world leaders.

Our corporate headquarters are in London UK and our R&D headquarters in Sodertalje, Sweden. Our products are available in over 100 countries.

AstraZeneca China

Headquartered in Shanghai, AstraZeneca has a long history of commitment to China, dating back to 1898. We are the leading multinational pharmaceutical company in China by prescription sales, with 25 sales offices in major cities across the country.

AstraZeneca invests strongly in Research & Development (R&D) in China. We were one of the first multinational companies to conduct large-scale international multi-center clinical trials - and we were the first to establish a clinical research unit here. Since 1996 AstraZeneca has conducted 37 clinical projects and is currently conducting 11 on-going projects, covering five therapy areas: gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, respiratory, oncology and neuroscience.

In May we announced further investment of $100M in R&D, focused primarily on establishing the AstraZeneca Innovation Centre China (ICC), which will conduct translational science & develop knowledge about Chinese patients, biomarkers and genetics in cancer; a major cause of death here. This investment is distinguished not only by its size and scale, but more importantly because it focuses on genuinely cutting-edge science - with a mission to collaborate in knowledge transfer and skills development with China's centres of excellence in innovation and science: this is a key priority for China's nation.

AstraZeneca has a $134M state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Wuxi, Jiang Su Province. Inaugurated in 2001, it is the largest AZ manufacturing investment in Asia. The Wuxi facility supplies 80% of all the AZ products sold in China. The Wuxi facility will benefit from a further $35M investment announced in May 2006.

As well as transferring manufacturing and R&D technology into China, AstraZeneca provides a platform for transfer of the latest advances in scientific and medical knowledge to Chinese professionals via the AstraZeneca Academy. The Academy was established in 2003 as a medical knowledge exchange center for Chinese Medical professionals to access the latest medical knowledge and improve their diagnostic and treatment capabilities. Further investment in the Academy over the next three years will provide it with a state-of-the-art auditorium and allow it to expand its role into broader scientific knowledge sharing.

AstraZeneca employs over 2900 employees in China, and invests heavily in its people and their communities. Whilst we are dedicated to the research and development of innovative medicine, we also play an active role in public health promotion campaigns throughout China and we aim to be an excellent corporate citizen. Numerous AstraZeneca philanthropic programmes and charitable donations are directed at bringing value to China's peoples by facilitating economic development and social welfare.

For more information, please visit http://www.astrazeneca.com.cn

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