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AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, has signed a second collaboration agreement with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) as the city moves to position itself as a trailblazer in life science innovation.
Along with the wider Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong aims to attract the best health talent and drive growth in the fields of medical research, drug development, and clinical trials.
The collaboration will involve AstraZeneca and HKSTP supporting and providing services to overseas and mainland Chinese start-up companies under the park's incubation programme, connecting them with hospitals, key opinion leaders in the bay area and universities in Hong Kong. It will include technology and data sharing.
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"[It] will further build upon the positive momentum within HKSTP's biotechnology ecosystem," said Sunny Chai, chairman of HKSTP, after a signing ceremony on Tuesday which was also attended by Pascal Soriot, chief executive officer of AstraZeneca, as well as Albert Wong Hak-keung, HKSTP's chief executive.
In 2021, AstraZeneca partnered with HKSTP to set up an incubation programme for biomedical start-ups. The programme was designed to attract and support local and overseas start-ups working to improve the treatment and diagnosis of cancer.
Founded about 20 years ago, HKSTP's Hong Kong Science Park, located along the Tolo Harbour waterfront on the eastern fringes of the Kowloon peninsula, provides office, production, and research and development (R&D) space while helping to link investors and start-ups.
AstraZeneca is well-equipped to help nurture more health talent and drive significant growth in Hong Kong's medical research, drug development, and clinical trial processes, said Leon Wang, the company's international and China president.
Today, the park boasts more than 1,200 start-ups - both home-grown and from outside Hong Kong - and has spawned several listed companies. It wants to grow to host as many as 6,000 companies over the next 10 years.
New energy, biotechnology, AI and data science are among the target areas for the HKSTP, in keeping with the priorities set out in the Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint in December, which in turn followed the Policy Address by Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu two months earlier and President Xi Jinping's endorsement of the goal of turning the city into a technology hub.