Europe and the US risk being outpaced on innovation, as happened in the car industry, Pascal Soriot has warned. The AstraZeneca chief executive said the company must operate at “Chinese speed” to avoid losing ground to more innovative rivals, while the FTSE 100 drugmaker continues to watch China’s pharmaceutical industry closely and collaborate to take drugs to global markets.
Why is AstraZeneca talking about “Chinese speed”?
AstraZeneca must move faster to keep pace with rivals, according to Soriot, who said the wider US and European pharmaceutical sector also needs to focus on the speed of innovation. He said the company has been learning that it has to act more quickly and repeatedly used the phrase “Chinese speed” when describing AstraZeneca’s own ambitions.
“We have to make sure we don’t fall behind,”
Soriot said, speaking to reporters on Monday.
“What we are learning ourselves is we have to move much faster. We always talk about Chinese speed in our company, and we want to operate in Chinese speed.”
How is AstraZeneca performing financially?
AstraZeneca said on Monday it was confident of hitting its growth targets for 2030, when i, up from $59bn last year. The British company, headquartered in Cambridge, reported revenues of £30.7bn in the first half of 2026, a 6% increase on the same period a year earlier at constant exchange rates.
Soriot, , said the pipeline of new drugs from the company was “unmatched”, putting it on course to hit the growth targets in 2030 and beyond, despite the surprise failure of Wainua, one of its major heart disease drug prospects, in clinical trials earlier this month.
“We have to accept to fail some of the time,”
Soriot said.
“Biology is biology.”
What challenge does AstraZeneca see from China?
Despite confidence in growth prospects, Soriot, who is French, acknowledged that dominant pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the US need to be aware of the potential challenge from Chinese competitors. He compared the situation with the automotive industry, where western companies largely focused on petrol engines and left room for new competition.
“Chinese companies were focused completely on electric vehicles and batteries and those kinds of technologies,”Soriot said, adding that Chinese pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in equivalent novel technologies such as antibody drug conjugates, which deliver chemotherapy agents directly to cancer cells, and cell therapy, in which live cells are injected into the body to help fight diseases.
What did he say about AI in drug development?
Soriot also played down , which he said could increase the speed of drug development, particularly in the design of trial protocols. He said he believed AI tools would help improve productivity in the pharma industry, allowing for economic growth rather than meaning fewer people will be needed.
“This story about AI killing jobs is a bit of a fake story,”
Soriot said.
“I can tell you it makes me faster and smarter,”he added, referring to his experience interacting with AI tools.
What happens next with the UK government?
Soriot added that AstraZeneca would engage with the UK government under its new leader, Andy Burnham, to seek clarity on . He said it was too early to say whether the change in leadership would have any effect on the deal, struck under pressure from Donald Trump, who threatened to impose heavy tariffs on UK drug exports to the US.
Analysis has suggested the deal could lead to .
“We need to understand their priorities and where the priorities are,”Soriot said.
“You have to establish your priorities and then fund them.”
Key Facts
- AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot urged western drugmakers to move at “Chinese speed”.
- The company reported £30.7bn in first-half 2026 revenue, up 6% at constant exchange rates.
- Soriot said the company’s pipeline was “unmatched” despite Wainua’s recent trial failure.
- He said Chinese rivals were investing heavily in antibody drug conjugates and cell therapy.
- AstraZeneca plans to engage with the UK government under new leader Andy Burnham.
