Chinese funds pour US$1.4b into US biotechnology firms in the first three months of the year
It’s unclear whether a deepening trade rift with the US could slow the stream of cash from China to medical innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Chinese investors are pumping money into US drug start-ups as Beijing seeks to become a global leader in new medicines, adding to a flood of cash flowing to groundbreaking health firms.
Venture capital funds based in China poured US$1.4 billion into private US biotechnology firms in the three months ending March 31, accounting for about 40 per cent of the US$3.7 billion that the companies raised in the period overall, according to data provider PitchBook.
At the same time a year earlier, Chinese funds invested US$125.5 million, only about seven per cent of the total.
“China has an insatiable appetite for access to the biotech area,” said Joel Marcus, chief executive officer of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, a life-sciences real estate investment trust that has a biotechnology venture capital arm. “I don’t think there’s going to be any shortage of Chinese capital.”
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It is unclear whether a deepening trade rift with the US could slow the stream of cash from China to medical innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Trump administration targeted Chinese-made medical devices and drugs in its proposed tariffs, and has said it wants to crack down on Chinese abuse of US intellectual property. Congress has tried to limit China’s reach in the technology industry.
But as Beijing attempts to move the country’s pharmaceutical sector beyond being seen as mostly a maker of low-cost generic medications, the investment wave is likely to continue.
