AstraZeneca is investing $2.5bn in research and development and manufacturing in Beijing, as the drugmaker tries to move on after a scandal that led to the detention of a top executive in China. 

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company has agreed a five-year strategic partnership with the Beijing municipal government and the city’s economic and technological development office, including deals with three biotechs. 

Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, said the investment reflected its belief in “the world-class life sciences ecosystem in Beijing” and “our continued commitment to China”. He has been appointed to the Beijing International Business Leaders Advisory Council as part of the partnership.

AstraZeneca’s Chinese oncology business has been under scrutiny over alleged illegal drug sales practices. Leon Wang, who oversaw China in his former role as executive vice-president of the international region, was detained in October as part of an investigation by Chinese authorities. 

Earlier this year, AstraZeneca ditched a plan to build a £450mn manufacturing plant in the UK, after the new government reduced the amount of public support that had been offered by the previous administration.

Foreign drugmakers are increasingly looking to Chinese scientists and biotechs as sources of innovation, with many including AstraZeneca signing £1bn plus deals for the rights to sell Chinese drugs outside the country.

For many years, AstraZeneca was the largest foreign drugmaker by sales in China and Wang was celebrated for championing investment there. His arrest came after a broad anti-corruption campaign across the healthcare industry. 

AstraZeneca’s sales in China fell 3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, which it attributed to a mild winter that caused a drop in sales of respiratory infection drugs, and budget caps at Chinese hospitals. 

The company has replaced Wang with Iskra Reic, who said last month that the business was stable and focused after an “unsettling moment”.

She said AstraZeneca was “fully committed to keep growing in China” and that the company’s local partners were “willing and happy to continue to invest” together.

AstraZeneca’s new research and development centre in Beijing will be the company’s second in China, in addition to a hub in Shanghai.

It will partner with BioKangtai on vaccines for respiratory and other infectious diseases, with Harbour BioMed on antibody discovery, and with Syneron Bio on a new class of drugs that aim to be as easy to take as a pill but with the potency of an infusion.

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