US Drugmakers Turn to China for Licensing Deals on Experimental Medicines
US pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to Chinese biotech firms for licensing deals on experimental medicines. This trend is evident in recent agreements between major US drugmakers and their Chinese counterparts.
Merck, a leading American pharma company, has agreed to pay SciBrunch Therapeutics $400 million upfront for global rights to an experimental cancer drug. This deal makes Merck the latest US drugmaker to license China-developed medicines.
The licensing deals often involve Chinese biotechs retaining domestic rights and licensing their drugs overseas in exchange for upfront payments, milestone payments, and royalties. In some cases, US companies also invest in Chinese firms through equity investments.
The agreements are listed below:
Date US Chinese Deal Assets/pro Upfront Potentiacompany company type grams nt l valuevalueSeptem Merck SciBrunc Licens SPR2015, $400 Up tober h ing experimental cancer on billiontherapeutics drugMay Pfizer Innovent Licens 12 $650 Up to2026 Biologic ing early-stage oncology on billionprogramsMay Bristol Jiangsu Licens 13 $600 Up to2026 Myers Hengrui ing early-stage e programs on billionSquibb Pharmaceuticals in oncology,hematology, and immunologyFebrua Eli Innovent Licens Experiment $350 Up tory Lilly Biologic ing al cancer milli $8.852026 s and on billionimmunologydrugsJanuar AbbVie RemeGen Licens RC148, $650 Up toy 2026 ing experimental al cancer on billiondrugJune Regener Hansoh Licens HS-20094/o $80 Up to2025 on Pharma ing latepati milli $2.01Pharmac de, on billioneutical GLP-1/GIPs obesitydrugMay Pfizer 3SBio Licens SSGJ-707, $1.25 Up to2025 ing experimental al cancer on billion, drug notincludingPfizer’s$100millionequityinvestmentDecemb Merck Hansoh Licens HS-10535, $112 Up to $2er Pharma ing oral milli billion2024 weight-loss ons pillNovemb Merck LaNova Licens LM-299, $588 Up toer Medicine ing experimental al cancer on billiondrugJune AbbVie FutureGe Licens FG-M701, $150 Up to2024 n ing experimental al on billionaceutica inflammatol ry boweldiseasedrugDecemb Bristol Sichuan Licens BL-B01D1, $800 Up toer Myers Biokin ing experimental al on billionutical antibody/SystImm cancerune drugDecemb Summit Akeso Licens Ivonescima $500 Up to $5er Therape ing b, milli billion2022 utics experiment onal cancertherapy(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)