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A cargo plane operated by Atlas Air, carrying more than 8 tons of semi-finished drugs manufactured by AstraZeneca, lands at Sunan Shuofang International Airport. [Photo/WeChat account: xinwu_wx]

More than 8 metric tons of semi-finished Forxiga Dapagliflozin tablets, a drug manufactured by AstraZeneca to control high blood sugar in diabetics, were imported from Chicago, the United States to Sunan Shuofang International Airport in Wuxi, East China"s Jiangsu province on July 4.

The entire process, from the plane"s landing to the delivery of the cargo to AstraZeneca"s Wuxi factory, took only four hours. This successful and efficient operation marks another milestone in the development of Wuxi"s biopharmaceutical industry.

Cargo is moved off the plane. [Photo/WeChat account: xinwu_wx]

The drug import function at Sunan Shuofang International Airport, which is located in the Wuxi New District, also known as Xinwu district, was approved by the State Council in September 2020. In recent years, the airport has continuously increased its investment in both software and hardware.

Zhou Xiaohong, general manager of the airport"s logistics company, said that transportation time has been reduced by more than one day compared to the past when imported drugs had to land at other airports before being transported to Wuxi. This not only ensures the quality of imported drugs but also reduces logistics costs for companies.

Biopharmaceuticals have become one of the major industries in WND. In 2022, the scale of the industry in the district exceeded 87 billion yuan ($12.01 billion), accounting for over half of Wuxi"s total of that sector, and WND has attracted more than 400 biopharmaceutical companies.