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China-based companies are responsible for 20% of drugs in development globally, reflecting the powerhouse role the country has embraced in the pharmaceutical industry.

In a recent report by GlobalData, analysis demonstrates how regulatory and policy reforms in China have rapidly advanced its drug development landscape. The country accounts for nearly double the percentage of drugs being developed in the 5EU (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), responsible for 11%. The US still leads the way, however, holding a 40% share.

The Chinese government has been busy over the last decade implementing regulatory initiatives in a bid to increase competitiveness on the global stage. This includes China’s “Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Review and Approval Processes to Encourage Innovation of Drugs and Medical Devices,” a policy introduced in 2015 designed to accelerate growth in the pharmaceutical and medtech sectors. A further focus on modernising clinical trials has meant the country’s aim of becoming a dominant region for drug pipelines is being realised.

Gaffar Aga, strategic intelligence analyst at GlobalData, says: “This represents years of regulatory initiatives demonstrated by China, which enabled it to continue to advance into a key source of credible innovation within the global pharmaceutical landscape.”

The emergence of strong early-stage drug candidates in China has gone hand-in-hand with a steep uptick in licensing deals between the country’s biotechs and Western big pharma companies. One of the biggest transactions this year was AstraZeneca’s $5.2bn deal with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to research chronic disease drug candidates.

Some of these have followed an increasingly popular deal structure called NewCo. Under this model, instead of a direct agreement between an innovator and a big pharma buyer, rights are assigned to a new company or ‘NewCo’ in which companies and investors hold equity.

Licensing deals between US and Chinese biopharma companies hit record highs last year, a 280% increase from 2020, according to analysis by GlobalData.

Across big pharma, transactions rose 66% from $16.6bn in 2023 to $41.5bn in 2024, demonstrating that China is still the go-to place to discover pipeline candidates.

George El-Helou, strategic intelligence analyst at GlobalData, comments: “China continues to transition from ‘me-too’ to a global innovator, redefining the global drug development landscape. Other markets must continue to monitor China’s pipeline assets to maintain global market share.”

“China accounts for one-fifth of global drugs in development” was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.