Driving innovation through dynamic collaboration in Asia

“In Asia, the stage is set and the time is now. Universities, hospitals, companies and governments are poised to join forces to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Let’s put our best minds together and achieve much more together than any of us could alone.”

The power of collaboration was the focus of the keynote address by Patrick Keohane, VP Research & Development, AstraZeneca Asia Pacific at the first combined BioPartnering Europe and BioPartnering China event in London on 12 October 2009.

His topic was strategic partnering in Asia and how AstraZeneca has been successful in this area. He spoke passionately about the dynamics of collaboration and how vital they are for driving innovation in the quest to discover and develop new and better medicines that will help people live better lives.

“Each of us is here today in the spirit of innovation. And through innovation, we can create better medicines - medicines that will help people live better lives.”

In Asia for Asia

Asia is quickly emerging as a biomedical powerhouse, with innovations in drug discovery, translational and clinical research and medical technology happening across the region.

AstraZeneca has been building a presence in Asia for decades. We started doing business in Japan as far back as 1955 and in India in 1986. We subsequently set up a dedicated tuberculosis research centre in Bangalore and a translational R&D centre in Shanghai, China. We’ve also built a  significant Asian oncology network to address liver and stomach cancer - diseases that are more prevalent in Asia than anywhere else. In his speech, Patrick shared some of the cornerstones of our work in Asia. His emphasis was on how the company has been and continues to harness the power of external collaborations that help each partner achieve more together than either of them could alone. 

More information:

Read Patrick's full speech (PDF 134kb)

Visit the BioPartnering Europe and BioPartnering China web page