Wuxi names AstraZeneca CEO an honorary citizen

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, is positive about his company's future in Wuxi. [Photo/wxrb.com]

The city of Wuxi has named Pascal Soriot, CEO of global biopharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca, as an honorary citizen.

The French-born Soriot, 60, has been serving as AstraZeneca's CEO since 2012. He has been actively promoting the company's investment in Wuxi for many years, which is an important reason why he was awarded this honor, according to local officials.

In 2001, AstraZeneca invested $134 million to establish its Wuxi supply base, which now serves to develop and supply drugs for 75 countries and regions around the world.

To date, the total investment of the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals multinational in Wuxi has exceeded $300 million. It topped Wuxi's tax list in 2018, paying nearly 3 billion yuan ($425 million) in taxes.

In March, AstraZeneca joined hands with the regional government to build the Wuxi International Life Science Innovation Campus, which opened on Sept 7. It is designed to attract global innovation resources to build an international life science innovation ecosystem.

"I am greatly honored and extremely grateful to the Wuxi government for this award," said Soriot, adding that the honor was a recognition of the company's collective efforts as well as his personal contribution, giving the company additional impetus in its exciting pursuits in Wuxi.

Soriot noted that AstraZeneca is a company focused on science and technology while Wuxi is a beautiful city – but also a city that is leading in science and technology in China and in the world.

The newly-launched AstraZeneca (Wuxi) International Life Science Innovation Campus. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The CEO said that everybody on his company's board was very impressed with Wuxi's scientific and technological input and strengths and he was proud to be associated with the city.

Soriot waxed lyrical about Wuxi when talking about his impressions of the city.

"The government of Wuxi is full of smart and nice people, and they are really working very hard to make the city very successful, so the people of Wuxi actually have a good life," he said.

Soriot also highlighted AstraZeneca's IoT healthcare strategy in Wuxi, a powerful force in the country's internet of things sector.

AstraZeneca's innovation in IoT healthcare began in Wuxi. Eyeing the city's advantages in IoT development, the company launched its Healthcare IoT Innovation Center there in 2017. The facility aims to explore the use of new technologies to create holistic disease management solutions for patients, covering prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

The company's smart healthcare achievements have been widely adopted in more than 1,400 hospitals in China and many programs were even introduced abroad. In one initiative alone, over 700 pediatric nebulization rooms were established in countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and cancer screening programs were extended to 11 countries.

Together with stakeholders, including hospitals, wearable medical device makers and the internet, AstraZeneca plans to build a new health ecosystem for all, integrating all the necessary resources available from big data platforms.

The National Metabolic Management Center is supported by AstraZeneca. It has been in operation at Wuxi People's Hospital since September 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]