https://www.scmp.com/rss/521880/feed Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals: A leading Chinese pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, with corporate offices in Shanghai and a global presence including R&D centres in the US and Europe. It specialises in the research, development, manufacturing, and distribution of innovative drugs, primarily focusing on oncology, surgical medicines, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases. The company is recognised as China’s largest listed pharmaceutical firm and consistently ranks... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Julie Zhang Julie Zhang At least 10 weight-loss injections and oral pills are lining up for regulatory approval in China, in a market projected to reach about US$14 billion by 2030. Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster semaglutide, which generated about US$35 billion in global revenue last year, lost patent protection in China on March 20, clearing the way for rivals. The rush comes as China’s drug regulator accelerates approvals of innovative therapies, helped by a surge in out-licensing deals with global pharmaceutical... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3347869/chinas-weight-loss-drug-makers-take-global-giants-novo-nordisk-patent-expires?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3347869/chinas-weight-loss-drug-makers-take-global-giants-novo-nordisk-patent-expires?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 03:00:08 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese pharmaceutical companies are on track to deliver full-year profits, as surging drug sales and lucrative out-licensing deals with global partners start to pay off after years of research and development outlay. “Despite domestic challenges, particularly drug pricing pressure, the earnings performance of innovative drugs should still fare well in China in 2025,” said Tony Ren, head of Asia Healthcare Research at Macquarie Capital. Innovent Biologics, the first... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3344928/hong-kong-listed-chinese-drug-firms-set-turn-corner-rising-sales-licensing-deals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3344928/hong-kong-listed-chinese-drug-firms-set-turn-corner-rising-sales-licensing-deals?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2026 04:00:22 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Mainland China could become one of the first markets in the world to approve a drug fully designed by artificial intelligence, as advances in AI and human genetics combine to create a “seismic shift” in drug development, according to executives of pharmaceutical giants. “We will see in 2026 that we move from AI-assisted discovery to fully AI-designed compounds, perhaps entering the pipeline,” said Marc Horn, president of Merck China, at the Asian Financial Forum on Tuesday in Hong Kong. “We... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3341432/china-could-approve-first-fully-ai-designed-drug-next-year-merck-executive-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3341432/china-could-approve-first-fully-ai-designed-drug-next-year-merck-executive-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:00:10 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Foreign and mainland Chinese drug makers are fighting for a multibillion-dollar slice of the domestic weight-loss market by slashing prices by as much as 80 per cent, as China faces a worsening obesity crisis. Competition in the sector, dominated by global pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, intensified after both secured obesity-drug approvals in China in 2024. The landscape is set to shift further when the patent on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide expires in March in China, opening... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3339544/chinas-weight-loss-drug-war-prices-slashed-80-obesity-crisis-worsens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3339544/chinas-weight-loss-drug-war-prices-slashed-80-obesity-crisis-worsens?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2026 23:30:09 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Chinese drug makers’ licensing deals more than doubled in 2025 from a year earlier to a record high, propelled by dozens of multibillion-dollar agreements between Hong Kong and mainland China-listed firms and global pharmaceutical giants. Last year, 157 out-licensing deals worth US$135.7 billion were signed, compared with 94 transactions worth US$51.9 billion in 2024, state media reported, citing data released by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), China’s drugs regulator, last... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3339011/chinese-drug-makers-strike-record-us136-billion-out-licensing-deals-2025?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3339011/chinese-drug-makers-strike-record-us136-billion-out-licensing-deals-2025?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:30:09 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela China’s biopharmaceutical sector is said to have entered an “innovation 2.0” phase as it moves to a commercialisation mindset that could see it sideline global competitors and outpace the US – despite restrictive trade policies. In recent years, innovative drug development in the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market has rapidly approached – and in some cases surpassed – that of the United States, the world’s biggest market. Growing concerns over China’s biotech capabilities have led the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338481/chinas-biopharma-sector-prime-position-challenge-us-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3338481/chinas-biopharma-sector-prime-position-challenge-us-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2026 22:00:15 +0000 Julie Zhang,Eunice Xu Julie Zhang,Eunice Xu If pharmaceutical drug patents are an hourglass turned over on the day of approval – with the approaching loss of exclusivity known in the industry as the “patent cliff” – then Big Pharma is currently watching the final grains of sand slipping through the neck of the glass. At the bottom of the hourglass awaits an unforgiving world of generic and biosimilar competition. Between 2025 and 2030, the patent cliff is set to be one of the biggest since 2010 by revenue at risk, according to... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3337038/patent-cliffhanger-will-china-biotech-throw-big-pharma-lifeline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3337038/patent-cliffhanger-will-china-biotech-throw-big-pharma-lifeline?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:10 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang China is gaining a solid reputation as a pharmaceutical innovation hub, shifting from a copycat drug maker to one whose infrastructure and research and development capabilities rival global pharmaceutical behemoths, according to a global consultancy. US-based SAI MedPartners and its unit Idea Pharma recently launched a new index with the aim of highlighting Chinese drug makers and recognising their shift from generics to “true” innovation. The consultancy released the China Pharmaceutical... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3336851/chinas-pharmaceutical-sector-moves-big-leagues-global-innovation-powerhouse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3336851/chinas-pharmaceutical-sector-moves-big-leagues-global-innovation-powerhouse?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:30:08 +0000 Zhang Shidong Zhang Shidong A recent quarterly review by FTSE Russell of two indexes tracking Chinese stocks may result in more than US$850 million of capital flows, with sectors from metal producers to healthcare attracting passive investments, according to Goldman Sachs. Capital goods, metal and pharmaceutical companies would each attract between US$125 million and US$300 million in passive inflows after the quarterly rebalancing of the FTSE China 50 Index and the FTSE China A50 Index on Wednesday, Goldman analysts led... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3335169/ftses-rebalancing-china-stock-indexes-spur-us850-million-fund-flows-goldman-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3335169/ftses-rebalancing-china-stock-indexes-spur-us850-million-fund-flows-goldman-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 07:01:39 +0000 Kamala Thiagarajan Kamala Thiagarajan China’s pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of enormous growth and transformation. In just a few years, it has moved on from being the world’s cheapest source of active pharmaceutical ingredients to becoming a major hub for pharmaceutical innovation – a place where new, more effective drugs are born. It is now the second-largest developer of drugs, trailing only the United States. In the global drug development pipeline, China’s growth rate is phenomenal, leaping from 3 per cent in 2013 to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3334948/how-china-went-generic-drug-factory-biomedicine-innovator?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3334948/how-china-went-generic-drug-factory-biomedicine-innovator?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Eric Ng,Julie Zhang Eric Ng,Julie Zhang The ferocity of China’s biopharmaceutical investment boom this year – fuelled by record-breaking licensing of commercial rights to global giants after a three-year slump – may have surprised casual observers. But according to Helen Chen, one of the most respected analysts and advisers in China’s life sciences space, the supercharged sector’s real renaissance came two years earlier. In December 2022, US drug maker MSD agreed to license global (excluding China) rights to develop and commercialise... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3331950/six-best-how-chinas-new-biotech-vanguard-banking-billions-breakthroughs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3331950/six-best-how-chinas-new-biotech-vanguard-banking-billions-breakthroughs?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 03:00:14 +0000 Cao Li Cao Li The Chinese pharmaceutical sector has significantly outperformed the broader market this year, driven by strong sales growth and a rapid increase in income from licensing drugs to international partners, according to HSBC. The H-share innovative drug index has risen 107 per cent so far, compared with a 30 per cent gain in the broader Hang Seng Index. Meanwhile, the A-share pharmaceutical index was up 23 per cent, versus a 16 per cent increase in the CSI 300 index, according to a report published... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3328097/chinas-pharmaceutical-sector-surges-amid-robust-growth-sales-and-licensing-income?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3328097/chinas-pharmaceutical-sector-surges-amid-robust-growth-sales-and-licensing-income?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 06:02:52 +0000 Eric Ng,Julie Zhang Eric Ng,Julie Zhang When Zhao Hong, chief doctor of China’s leading cancer hospital at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, told his fellow delegates at a Communist Party meeting in March that a little-known Guangzhou biotech firm’s cancer drug had beaten the world’s bestselling medicine, investors took notice. “As a long-serving front-line doctor, my most profound feeling is that China is at the best time of its biopharmaceutical sector’s development,” he told state media on the sidelines of the annual Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3327701/chinas-biotech-renaissance-rising-drug-creation-prowess-attracts-global-notice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3327701/chinas-biotech-renaissance-rising-drug-creation-prowess-attracts-global-notice?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2025 02:00:09 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s up to US$7.3 billion acquisition of next-generation weight loss drugs developer Metsera will encourage more research spending on innovative products in China but is unlikely to draw new players into the fray, according to analysts. The acquisition of the US company, together with other deals by global pharmaceutical firms, would encourage companies already developing obesity drugs – including those in China – to continue their investments, said the... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3326774/pfizers-metsera-acquisition-spur-chinese-search-next-generation-weight-loss-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3326774/pfizers-metsera-acquisition-spur-chinese-search-next-generation-weight-loss-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:30:08 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Shares in Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, China’s largest drug maker by market value, got a boost on Thursday after it announced its fifth licensing deal of the year, widening its access to the key emerging market of India. The Shanghai-listed company, which went public in Hong Kong in May and raised HK$9.9 billion (US$1.26 billion), struck a deal with Glenmark Specialty of Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, it said in a stock exchange filing late on Wednesday. The agreement was part of an... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3326777/chinas-hengrui-gets-boost-fifth-drug-licensing-deal-year-adds-india-partner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3326777/chinas-hengrui-gets-boost-fifth-drug-licensing-deal-year-adds-india-partner?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 04:48:31 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Beijing’s new rules for state-led bulk tendering of medical drugs are the latest example of its “anti-involution” drive to combat cutthroat competition, a move analysts said would favour more established players. “The centralised bulk procurement rules optimisation is a sign that the National Healthcare Security Administration is proactively pushing Beijing’s anti-involution agenda within the pharmaceutical sector as part of efforts to bolster domestic consumption,” Guotai Haitong Securities’... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3326408/beijing-tackles-drug-price-wars-new-tendering-rules-anti-involution-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3326408/beijing-tackles-drug-price-wars-new-tendering-rules-anti-involution-push?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 23:30:08 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen Biotech firm Ascletis Pharma said ASC47, its muscle-preserving weight loss drug candidate, could boost the efficacy of the popular anti-obesity medication semaglutide by 56.2 per cent, as Chinese drug makers eye a growing share of this lucrative market. That finding came from a trial that Ascletis conducted in the US for 28 participants with obesity, which aimed to assess the drug candidate’s safety and ideal dose, according to the company’s statement on Monday. The treatment duration was four... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3326379/ascletis-pharma-trial-shows-drug-candidate-asc47-boosts-weight-loss-effect-semaglutide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3326379/ascletis-pharma-trial-shows-drug-candidate-asc47-boosts-weight-loss-effect-semaglutide?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 09:00:16 +0000 Zhang Shidong Zhang Shidong Chinese biopharmaceutical stocks have become extremely popular with investors this year amid strong policy support and a rise in licensing deals with multinational companies. A more than 100 per cent gain in the Hang Seng innovative drug index this year is an indication of the euphoria sweeping the sector. Key industry players such as Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group and WuXi Biologics, which are also members of the Hang Seng Index, have more than doubled year to date. The trade is reminiscent of the... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3326143/chinese-biotech-stocks-get-shot-arm-policy-support-and-licensing-deals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3326143/chinese-biotech-stocks-get-shot-arm-policy-support-and-licensing-deals?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Sep 2025 08:50:46 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg GIC, Millennium Management and Hillhouse Investment are among heavyweights that are set to invest in Zijin Gold International’s initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. BlackRock, Fidelity International and Baillie Gifford were also among cornerstone investors that were poised to get around half of the IPO shares, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is not public. The line-up of marquee names investing in Zijin... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3326013/zijin-golds-hong-kong-ipo-draws-heavyweights-gic-millennium-and-hillhouse-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3326013/zijin-golds-hong-kong-ipo-draws-heavyweights-gic-millennium-and-hillhouse-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Sep 2025 10:25:20 +0000 Aileen Chuang Aileen Chuang China’s healthcare sector is on track to secure record fundraising this year, driven by robust global investor demand and growth momentum, according to analysts. Several Chinese biopharmaceutical companies have tapped equity capital markets – mainly in Hong Kong – for initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on deals and block share placements this year. Year to date, the fundraising reached US$10.6 billion (HK$82.5 billion), more than the combined total from 2022 to 2024, according to Dealogic... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3325006/chinas-healthcare-sector-sees-record-us106-billion-fundraising-biotech-booms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3325006/chinas-healthcare-sector-sees-record-us106-billion-fundraising-biotech-booms?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 06:25:10 +0000 Cao Li Cao Li More than 200 companies are awaiting approval for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong, with about half coming from the technology sector, according to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting. “Recently, many international long-term investors have actively participated in the IPO subscriptions of technology and innovation companies, reflecting strong global interest in China’s tech sector,” she said at HKEX’s Future Tech Summit on Friday. In the first eight months... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3324462/hong-kong-ipo-pipeline-swells-chinese-tech-listings-lure-global-investors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3324462/hong-kong-ipo-pipeline-swells-chinese-tech-listings-lure-global-investors?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 07:30:10 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, a Chinese developer of novel drugs, could receive up to US$1.01 billion in milestone payments after granting a US company exclusive rights to develop a heart disease drug, the latest example of mainland drug makers licensing early-stage assets to international partners. Jiangsu Hengrui entered into a licensing agreement with one-year-old US start-up Braveheart Bio for its innovative drug HRS-1893 to treat obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, according to a... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3324435/chinas-jiangsu-hengrui-signs-licensing-deal-braveheart-bio-heart-drug?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3324435/chinas-jiangsu-hengrui-signs-licensing-deal-braveheart-bio-heart-drug?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 04:54:34 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Chinese pharmaceutical companies are beginning to challenge Western giants in the weight-loss drugs market, fuelled by domestic demand from the world’s largest population of overweight and obese people. More than 60 late-stage weight-loss drug candidates are undergoing clinical trials in China, according to Boston-based L.E.K. Consulting, creating potential competition for Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide (marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for treating type 2 diabetes) and Eli Lilly’s... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3324006/china-goes-big-weight-loss-drugs-novo-eli-lilly-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3324006/china-goes-big-weight-loss-drugs-novo-eli-lilly-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:02:15 +0000 Eric Ng Eric Ng Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group, two of China’s largest drug makers, are expected to report significantly improved profits, buoyed by novel drug roll-outs and revenue from technology licensing. On August 21, Hengrui, China’s largest drug maker by market value, is expected to say its net profit for the first half rose 40 per cent from a year earlier to 4.1 billion yuan (US$570.8 million), with revenue up 9 per cent to 15.7 billion yuan, according to analysts’... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3322005/chinese-pharma-firms-hengrui-hansoh-expected-post-strong-first-half-profits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3322005/chinese-pharma-firms-hengrui-hansoh-expected-post-strong-first-half-profits?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Aug 2025 23:30:12 +0000 David Chao David Chao As Greater China markets charge into the third quarter with the wind at their backs, there is increasing evidence that 2025 is the year Chinese intellectual property goes global. A month ago, I wrote about the peculiar appeal of the Labubu doll, which seemingly leapt out of nowhere to become a global pop culture phenomenon. This was the latest example of a successful Chinese entertainment IP – a unique asset with intangible social value – taking off. Meanwhile, China is also making huge progress... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3320580/biotech-successes-helping-chinese-intellectual-property-go-global?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3320580/biotech-successes-helping-chinese-intellectual-property-go-global?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Aug 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Julie Zhang Julie Zhang Shareholders of mainland Chinese companies are showing increasing interest in setting up family offices in Hong Kong after their initial public offerings amid a swelling pipeline of new listings in the city, according to an asset manager overseeing up to US$2 billion in wealth. “This week alone, I have met two clients inquiring about family office services and tonight I am meeting another – lots of overtime,” said Wang Fengyu, founder and chairman of Hong Kong-based Oakwise Capital, in an... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3318844/shareholders-mainland-chinese-firms-look-hong-kong-family-offices-asset-manager?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3318844/shareholders-mainland-chinese-firms-look-hong-kong-family-offices-asset-manager?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jul 2025 23:30:10 +0000