AstraZeneca Invests Nearly RMB 200 Million in Taizhou to Build New Production Line for Diabetes Drug AnDaShi

On January 13, at the first "Three Highs and Three Slows" Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment Industry Conference held in Taizhou, AstraZeneca announced the official signing of a new production line investment cooperation agreement with the Taizhou Medical High-tech Industrial Development Zone, investing 190 million RMB to build the Andasim new production line.

It is reported that the Taizhou base is AstraZeneca's global production and supply base for diabetes products, with an expected annual output value of 10 billion yuan. In addition to Andas, AstraZeneca's key product, Andatang (Dapagliflozin), is also produced at the Taizhou base. The sales of this product in China this year are expected to exceed 1 billion US dollars, surpassing Tagrisso to become AstraZeneca's top product.

Anda Shi is a new compound formulation for type 2 diabetes approved by AstraZeneca in China on November 22, 2023 — dapagliflozin metformin hydrochloride sustained-release tablets, which combines two complementary anti-hyperglycemic drugs: dapagliflozin (SGLT2 inhibitor) and metformin hydrochloride sustained-release tablets. It is also currently the only compound formulation in China that is taken once daily at a fixed dose, containing both an SGLT2 inhibitor and metformin hydrochloride sustained-release agent.

Andesu, which was just launched last year, has already been included in the medical insurance negotiation directory for that year. Industry insiders predict that the peak sales of this drug in the coming years may not be less than 3 billion yuan.

Data cited by AstraZeneca shows that currently, the number of people with cardiovascular disease in China has reached 330 million, the population suffering from chronic kidney disease is 120 million, and those with diabetes amount to 141 million. Among them, more than 29% of patients exhibit coexistence of two or more risk factors of "three highs" (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar), which significantly increases the risk of serious cardiovascular events and will further aggravate the economic burden on patients.

In recent years, innovative compound formulations in the diabetes field have continued to emerge. Last year, a type 2 diabetes compound formulation named Soliqua, developed by Sanofi, was launched in China. This drug combines insulin glargine and the GLP-1 class drug lixisenatide, and is suitable for adult patients with type 2 diabetes who have poor blood glucose control.

More innovative hypoglycemic drugs are expected to be approved in China in the future.

Novo Nordisk presented data from the phase III clinical trial SELECT at the 2023 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions (AHA 2023), showing that the GLP-1 drug semaglutide reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events by 20%. Additionally, according to a recent study by the company published in October last year, semaglutide demonstrated positive effects in slowing kidney failure in diabetes patients, meeting the pre-set efficacy criteria early, leading to the premature termination of the clinical trial.

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