The five-year investment will go toward the construction of a new R&D facility in Beijing to develop innovative therapies and integrate the world’s second most populated country in the company’s global strategy.
Pfizer earlier this week announced that it will pump $1 billion into its China operations, with the aim of improving innovation in the country’s biotech ecosystem, according to multiple media reports.
“We have developed … a five-year plan. We call it ‘China 2030,’” Pfizer China President Jean-Christophe Pointeau said in a promotional video. “We will invest $1 billion, which is about 7.5 billion RMB, in China for the period of five years.” The investment was revealed during the seventh China International Import Expo in Shanghai, according to an online translation of a report from Chinese language news outfit SINA.
With the capital injection, Pfizer hopes to accelerate biotech innovation in the country, with the goal of developing the local biotech industry and helping the Chinese government meet its Healthy China 2030 goal—a state-sponsored initiative that seeks to leverage domestic innovation to expand Chinese industry, boost health equity and the importance of healthy diets and exercise. Several international bodies, including the World Health Organization, support the Healthy China 2030 initiative.
Under Pfizer’s five-year strategic plan, the company will build a new R&D facility in Beijing to help develop its innovative therapies in China, while incorporating the country into its global strategy and opening up participation in clinical trials, according to SINA.
The money will also help Pfizer improve the diagnostic capacity and treatment standards of China’s healthcare system.
In addition to the $1 billion investment, Pfizer on Thursday entered into a strategic agreement with Beijing Tianguangshi Biotechnology and Kangyuan Bochuang Biotechnology to advance therapies for multiple myeloma, according to a digitally translated news release. Details of the deal were sparse—the companies did not reveal specific considerations for the contract, its timeline and the platforms or mechanisms of actions that they plan to leverage.
These latest Pfizer investments in China come as it continues to face pressure from activist investor Starboard Value, which last month took a $1 billion stake in the company, with an eye toward turning the business around. Starboard contends that current CEO Albert Bourla has failed to deliver financial returns to investors, abandoning Pfizer’s typically disciplined spending and smart investment in high-potential drugs.
Analysts, however, have generally taken Bourla’s side with many opining that the CEO has taken sufficient steps to soften the blow of the steep decline in COVID-19 demand. Last week, the company reported a Q3 beat, delivering $17.7 billion in revenue in the quarter, versus the analyst consensus of $14.92 billion—in a much-needed win for Bourla.
