The Philippines wants to become Asia’s next center for clinical research, and a new facility in Manila is meant to anchor that push. AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish drugmaker, is developing a Clinical Trial Centre of Excellence with De La Salle University (DLSU), the Department of Science and Technology, and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), with a target to open it within the year.
The center will sit inside DLSU’s Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology Zone. It is the first of three planned parts of a wider health ecosystem; the other two are a Cancer Command Centre and a Cardio-Renal-Metabolic Centre. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it will work with AstraZeneca and the other government and academic partners to speed up regulatory approvals and study a one-stop-shop model for clinical research.
AstraZeneca already has a sizable trial footprint in the country. It supports more than 28 ongoing and planned clinical trials at over 150 sites, and more than 1,000 Filipino patients have enrolled since 2022. Over the past six years, the company has put more than P3 billion into Philippine trials in oncology, respiratory and immunology, and cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases. It has also teamed up with AC Health and its Healthway Medical Network to bring trial capabilities to more hospitals, including ones outside the usual research centers.
Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said a larger clinical research industry could create higher-value jobs for doctors, nurses, researchers, and other health workers, and give more patients a chance to join trials. She compared the opportunity to the IT-BPM sector, which grew from call centers into a globally competitive knowledge-services industry, and described clinical research as the country’s “next growth industry.”
AstraZeneca and PEZA are separately working on a proposed Multi-Stakeholder Health Innovation Hub inside the economic zone network, under an agreement signed in August 2025. Its flagship Oncology Innovation Center is planned to use artificial intelligence for early detection of lung cancer, along with expanded patient support and training for health workers. The plans were discussed during Roque’s visit to AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
