AstraZeneca eyes local prospects

Defying sporadic withdrawals of foreign companies and a perceived economic slowdown, AstraZeneca is adopting a "lean in" strategy in China with more locally developed drugs and wider outreach, Pascal Soriot, CEO of the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant, told China Daily.

Tagrisso, the company's latest drug for treating lung cancer with the EFGR-mutation, is expected to receive approval in China soon. The drug has been under fast-track review, because nearly half of Chinese lung cancer patients have this mutation.

"By offering a treatment package and free products, we will market Tagrisso at the lowest possible price," Soriot said in an interview at the company's global research center in the university city of Cambridge, United Kingdom.