Despite regulatory obstacles, big pharma is so confident in China’s R&D they’re purchasing the rights to medicines that don’t yet exist.
A Chinese worker shows testing reagents for the H7N9 avian flu virus. Credit: IC Photo via Depositphotos
China’s biopharma industry is on a hot streak this year that not even geopolitical tensions can dull. Over $50 billion worth of licensing deals between Chinese and multinational firms were signed in the first two months of 2026 alone, a five-year high for quarterly deals.
Credit: PharmaDJ as of Feb 28, 2026
Amid the flurry of licensing deals this year, two are notable for what they don’t include. Instead of purchasing rights to a specific existing treatment, the U.S.’s Eli Lilly and
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