U.S. investors, Big Pharma race to find new medicines in China


U.S. investors, Big Pharma race to find new medicines in China

Published Thu, Feb 13 20257:27 AM EST A little-known biotech company stunned the biopharmaceutical industry last spring when it declared an “unprecedented” achievement: its experimental cancer drug looked more effective than Merck ’s Keytruda in a clinical trial. The company, Summit Therapeutics , licensed the drug from Chinese company Akeso Inc. In October, a group of life science investors announced they were putting $400 million into creating a company called Kailera Therapeutics that would develop experimental obesity drugs it bought from Chinese company Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. Then in a matter of days in December, Merck disclosed it would license a potential competitor to Summit’s drug and a separate experimental obesity pill – both from Chinese companies. Suddenly, U.S. companies are racing to find medicines in China. Almost 30% of Big Pharma deals with at least $50 million up front involved Chinese companies last year, up from 20% the year before and none only five years before, according to data from DealForma.