PEZA, AstraZeneca partner to boost pharma investments in PH

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals (Phils.) Inc. have formed a partnership to boost the country’s position as a destination for pharmaceutical and healthcare investments.

In a news release on Thursday, PEZA said its Director General Tereso Panga and AstraZeneca Philippines country president Lotis Ramin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on August 19.

Under the MOU, PEZA and AstraZeneca agreed to further enhance the country’s investment promotion initiatives, making the Philippines a priority destination for healthcare-related investments. 

In particular, AstraZeneca Philippines will help attract both local and foreign investors by facilitating business forums, investment briefings, B2B matchmaking sessions, and international delegations.

PEZA will help AstraZeneca Philippines in identifying viable locations for its healthcare projects within ecozones, providing guidance on regulatory requirements, and linking the company with support industries and potential joint venture partners. 

Both parties agreed to position the Philippines as an ASEAN hub for health-related production, distribution, and research and development collaboration.

Moreover, the accord will push for the establishment of AstraZeneca’s Multi-Stakeholder Health Innovation Hub in the Philippines—the first of its kind in the PEZA ecozone network. 

PEZA said the hub is seen to position the country as a regional center for digital health technology, research and development collaboration, and patient-centered healthcare solutions.

The investment promotion agency said the first project under the Innovation Hub will be an Oncology Innovation Center, which will harness artificial intelligence for early cancer detection, expand patient-support systems, build healthcare workforce capacity, and promote evidence-based policy development. AstraZeneca plans to model the hub after its prestigious pharma hub in the United Kingdom.

“We want to attract more companies that are into development, manufacturing, and research in the medical field in order to create a value chain that will lead to the lowering of the cost of medicines for Filipinos,” said Panga.

AstraZeneca will invest over P7 billion in the Philippines from 2026 to 2028, Ramin said.

“This includes the vision of the country’s first-ever multi-stakeholder health innovation hub in partnership with PEZA, signaling our long-term commitment to shape better health outcomes through collaboration in science,” she said. –VBL, GMA Integrated News