AstraZeneca’s NYSE listing comes as it pours $15 billion into China

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca will list on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, days after announcing major commitments on the other side of the world.

Like the rest of Big Pharma, the company has a balancing act. It wants a close relationship with the United States, its biggest market, and the listing is intended to increase investment there.

Innovation-friendly China, meanwhile, is attracting pharmaceutical companies that urgently need to develop new drugs to replace blockbuster drugs whose patents will expire in the next few years. Pricing challenges in the US are adding to the pressure.

AstraZeneca Just before its U.S. stock listing on Monday, it announced it would invest billions of dollars in China and partner with a Chinese biotech company on weight-loss drugs.

These developments come at a critical time for the pharmaceutical industry, as companies increasingly look east for innovation to offset revenue from current blockbuster drugs that will go off patent in the next few years. Pricing challenges in the U.S. market, which accounts for the bulk of profits for most major pharmaceutical companies, are increasing the pressure on Big Pharma.

AstraZeneca on Thursday said it plans to invest $15 billion in China by 2030 to expand both manufacturing and research and development, as Keir Starmer becomes the first British prime minister to visit the country in eight years.

“These investments span the value chain from drug discovery and clinical development to manufacturing, bringing innovations in China to the world,” the company said, noting other partnerships with other biotech companies in the region. he said.

In a separate announcement on Friday, Britain’s biggest company will partner with Hong Kong-listed company CSPC Pharmaceuticals followed to strengthen its obesity portfolio. The collaboration agreement includes CSPC’s eight preclinical and early-stage programs, including a monthly injectable drug. CSP shares fell 10.2% upon the announcement.

AstraZeneca will pay CSPC $1.2 billion upfront and an additional $17.3 billion if certain regulatory, research and sales milestones are met, an AstraZeneca spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Friday. The company declined to comment further on its geographic priorities.

The announcements come just before the listing of AstraZeneca shares on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday and a recently announced $50 billion US investment to waive US drug tariffs.

“What we understand from this is that the US and China will be the two most important regions for the company for the foreseeable future,” Camilla Oxhamre, portfolio manager at Rhenman & Partners, told CNBC via email.

The US is by far AstraZeneca’s biggest market, and the company announced last year that it would end its depository share program in the US. Listed directly on the New York Stock Exchange, it maintains its listings in London and Stockholm and says it wants more global investor base

“The largest pharmaceutical company [in China] When Astrazeneca decides to list in the US, there will always be a question mark in some minds about the allegiance to China and the fact that they’ve had several investigations in the last year, Rajesh Kumar, head of European life sciences and healthcare equity research at HSBC, told CNBC. In 2025, Astrazeneca faced several investigations by Chinese regulators regarding unpaid import duties.

“So they are actually telling you very clearly with this action that they are loyal to China,” Kumar added.

China is also AstraZeneca’s second largest market. Oxhamre, whose fund has a large long position in Astra, added: The Chinese market “will continue to grow in importance over time, both in terms of revenue and research.”

Astra is not the only pharmaceutical company looking to China for new and innovative assets. London-listed GSK signs deal with Hengrui Pharma Its value increased to 12 billion dollars in JulyMuch of it was tied to achieving certain development and business milestones.

Licensing deals between Big Pharma and Chinese biotech companies, such as those between AstraZeneca and CSPC, have increased sharply in recent years, with 57 such deals in 2025, according to Biopharma Dive data.

“These deals demonstrate the success of China’s long-standing efforts to move up the biopharma value chain from fast followers to differentiated entities that can compete globally,” PitchBook analysts said in a report published last month.

China’s emergence as a leader in preclinical and early-stage development comes as biotech funding elsewhere has struggled in recent years, helped by the speed at which early human trials are being conducted here. According to Kumar, the reverse brain drain that occurs with the return of Chinese scientists to the country is also helping the country’s biotechnology sector.

“China’s biopharma industry has reshaped itself around next-generation therapies paired with effective clinical research infrastructure to de-risk these assets,” PitchBook analysts said.

“Multinational and mid-sized biopharma companies are increasingly sourcing assets from China, including both large deals and smaller licensing agreements. Importantly, this activity is shifting towards complex biologics rather than legacy methods.”

A June report from Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs suggests that “China has the most immediate opportunity.” He said that it could “overtake the United States in biotechnology” and that this could “rapidly change the global balance of power.”