Big Pharma Companies Partner with Chinese Biotechs Amid Patent Expirations
Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to China for new drug development as they face patent expirations on blockbuster drugs in the early 2030s. Novartis has entered a licensing agreement worth up to $7.8 billion with Chinese biotech Abogen Biosciences, securing global rights to an experimental autoimmune disease treatment based on messenger RNA technology. This trend is not isolated; Danish firm Novo Nordisk and U.K.-based GSK have also announced deals with Chinese companies in recent weeks for early-stage drug candidates. ING forecasts that China will account for about a third of all new molecules in global pharma pipelines by 2026, up from just 4% in 2014. The growing interest reflects the rising innovation and outlicensing value within Chinese biotech firms, with deal values expected to exceed $250 billion globally. These partnerships aim to replenish Big Pharma's pipelines as they seek new revenue streams post-patent cliff.
Topics: autoimmune disease biotech china mRNA therapy