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Biomedicine: Industry Trends

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Biomedicine: Industry Trends
Learn about China’s biomedical breakthroughs, from cutting-edge pharmaceuticals to life-saving research, driving global health innovation.
Semaglutide generated about US$35 billion in global revenue last year. Photo: AFP
China’s private sector

China’s obesity drug makers take on global giants as Novo Nordisk patent expires

Patent expiry of blockbuster drug opens door for Chinese drug makers to challenge multinationals in booming weight-loss market.

China’s private sector

Rights to antibody drug from China’s Keymed change hands in US acquisition

Made in China 2025

Global drug giants double down on China amid push for self-reliant supply chains

China’s private sector

US reshoring drive casts shadow over China’s contract drug makers, analyst says

Strong order backlogs underpin earnings through 2027, but analysts warn longer-term demand is less certain as US firms reshore production.

Despite the headwinds, there is growing interest from multinational pharmaceutical companies in partnering with Chinese biotech firms. Photo: Getty Images
Banking & finance

Hong Kong attracts wave of biotech IPO filings amid AI drug research boom

More than 10 pre-profit drug developers are seeking Hong Kong listings as AI-powered biotech platforms draw growing investor interest.

Biomedicine: Companies

In a first for China, Neuracle’s brain-computer interface wins approval

China’s BCI start-ups, seen as potential rivals to Elon Musk’s Neuralink, gain momentum as regulatory support and new capital fuel growth.

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China’s private sector

Eli Lilly boosts China footprint with US$3 billion plan to expand supply chain

US firm is strengthening its China operations amid an intensifying expansion race with other pharmaceutical giants.

The move will bring the total cumulative investment of Eli Lilly in China to nearly US$6 billion. Photo: Reuters
Banking & finance

China investors energise Hong Kong biotech stocks. Is foreign money missing out?

Stock Connect reshuffle reflects biotech sector’s growing role on international stage, though overseas funds remain cautious.

Two Sessions 2026

China to pursue commercial health insurance to ease strain, support innovation

Commercial health insurance enters China’s policy agenda as an ageing population and costs strain basic coverage.

Insilico

Insilico Medicine advances Middle East push with UAE AI drug discovery deal

Hong Kong-listed biotech firm’s shares jump after announcing partnership to use AI tools in drug discovery in the United Arab Emirates.

The agreement was reached during the World Health Expo in Dubai between February 9 and 12, about two weeks before the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran. Photo: Shutterstock
Two Sessions 2026

China and Hong Kong should relax biotech listing rules, venture capitalist says

Foreign investors are returning to China’s healthcare sector, but IPO bottlenecks and takeover rules could deter deals, VC Nisa Leung says.

Biotechnology was explicitly included as a “strategic emerging pillar industry” in China’s government work report during the “two sessions” Photo: Shutterstock
Made in China 2025

China biotech outlicensing tops US$52 billion in first 2 months

The latest deals are Sino Biopharmaceutical’s partnership with France’s Sanofi and Antengene’s agreement with Belgium’s UCB.

Two Sessions 2026

Healthcare investors looking to ‘two sessions’ for clarity on drug pricing

Healthcare and insurance sectors will see policy fine-tuning, ‘moral support’ rather than ‘groundbreaking news’ from Beijing, analysts say.

Artificial intelligence

Chinese AI drug researcher XtalPi expects to turn first annual profit

Shenzhen-based company projects net profit of at least US$14.5 million in 2025 on narrowing losses in core businesses, investment gains.

Founded in 2015 by three quantum physicists, XtalPi was listed in Hong Kong in June 2024. Photo: Handout
Made in China 2025

Hong Kong-listed Chinese drug firms set to turn corner on rising sales, deals

Chinese pharmaceutical firms are poised for profit growth, driven by innovative drug sales and licensing deals, despite pricing pressures.

Pills are produced and packed at Modern Pharmaceutical’s factory. Photo: Shutterstock
China’s private sector

Wave of Chinese biotech deals builds with US$1.2 billion Harbour BioMed pact

Deal involving an antibody asset ‘goes beyond a traditional licensing transaction’, founder and CEO says.

Made in China 2025

After boost from viral dance challenge, Chinese medicine firm’s shares languish

Slumping profits at Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical have dragged the shares to about HK$7 in December 2025 from HK$15.62 in December 2022.

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China’s private sector

Lab monkey price tag climbs to US$20,000 thanks to China’s biotech boom

The cost of a single monkey exceeds the average annual salary in China and approaches a pandemic-era spike amid growth in drug licensing deals.

Founder Securities expects the annual domestic supply of experimental monkeys in China to range between 49,000 and 52,400 animals from 2025 to 2027. Photo: Shutterstock
Made in China 2025

Capital injection: China backs AI drug makers in self-reliance drive

A wave of government-linked investment is boosting Chinese AI drug makers, underscoring Beijing’s drive to build its own biotech ecosystem.

Made in China 2025

Chinese healthcare firms expand overseas to support growing expat community

Privately owned Distinct Healthcare plans to open a clinic in Dubai, while TCM group Gushengtang eyes 50 centres in Southeast Asia.

Banking & finance

Mainland China’s investors pour into Hong Kong-listed drug stocks

An index tracking Stock Connect buying of 40 mainland drug firms gains 9 per cent in a week as China’s industry heft grows.

An employee works on a drug production line at a pharmaceutical company in Meishan, China, on January 30, 2024. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
China’s private sector

Biomedicine | China challenges US in new drugs after industry transformation

Drug makers in China are performing cutting-edge research and licensing products to global giants after a 10-year government push supercharged the industry.

China challenges US in new drugs after industry transformation
Made in China 2025

Fosun Pharma unit licenses lung cancer drug to Eisai in US$1.55 billion deal

The deal comes as Chinese novel drug makers are having more say in how their new medicines are developed with global partners.

IPO

Morgan Stanley sees another record year for Hong Kong IPOs as pipeline hits 450

Mainland China’s issuers will still dominate city’s IPO market, executive says, but US and Southeast Asian companies are also joining in.

Biomedicine: Geopolitics

China could approve first AI-designed drug next year, Merck executive says

AI and genetics are creating a ‘seismic shift’ in the pharmaceutical business, experts on Asian Financial Forum panel say.

AI will allow drug makers to pick better molecules, make better medicines and improve molecule design, Amgen executive says. Photo: Shutterstock
Banking & finance

Global funds, from BlackRock to Temasek, back China’s largest biotech firms

Global institutional investors have built up sizeable positions in firms including Innovent, 3SBio, WuXi Biologics, Jiangsu Hengrui, Akeso and BeOne.

Global investors have reaped sizeable rewards from their investments in Hong Kong-listed biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the past year. Photo: Shutterstock
Biomedicine: Geopolitics

Harbour BioMed stake in US drug developer shows Chinese firms’ growing clout

Latest example of Chinese drug maker acquiring equity in overseas partner shows they are becoming true development partners, analysts say.

Made in China 2025

Exclusive | China challenges US in AI drug race, but rivals still reliant on each other

While US biotech firms increase use of Chinese clinical data, Chinese firms need US counterparts for monetisation, investor and scientist says.

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