Chinese medicines provide a lifeline to global pharmaceutical companies as they look into the patent abyss

Offshore licensing of clinical candidates from China has increased dramatically over the past five years, with pharmaceutical companies globally beefing up their production lines in anticipation of the approaching patent cliff for many blockbuster drugs.

A recent GlobalData report describes the rise in licensing deals between Chinese biotech companies and foreign pharmaceutical companies during 2025, noting that six of the ten largest deals since 2020 took place in just the first nine months of this year.

GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical technology.

AstraZeneca leads the group of developers to acquire the rights to Chinese medicines, having been responsible for the majority of overseas licensing deals since 2020. The company has invested heavily in collaborations with Chinese companies, and has signed A deal worth $5.2 billion In June 2025 to co-develop chronic disease drug candidates with Hebei-based CSPC Pharmaceuticals.

China now accounts for a fifth of all drugs in development Another GlobalData report. It was the country of origin 28% of licensed medicines in the world in 2024 in deals worth a total of $41.5 billion, based on GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center, up 66% from 2023.

“The steady flow of deals with global pharmaceutical companies in the US and EU continues to validate the strength and maturity of China’s innovation landscape,” said George El Helou, Pharma Strategic Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData. While it was once famous for cases Clinical data are fabricatedChina is now recognized globally as a leader in best-in-class treatments, Al-Helu said.

Oncology candidates are the focus of most of these deals, but growing interest in immunological and metabolic candidates reflects the maturity of China’s innovation capabilities, according to Ghaffar Agha, a strategic pharma intelligence analyst at GlobalData. Chinese developers also play a leading role in developing advanced drug modalities; In 2024, monoclonal antibodies were the most common drugs licensed from China for the United States and the European Union.

The latest report attributed much of the rise in out-licensing deals to regulatory reform, pointing to a 2024 pilot program by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to boost clinical trials and speed up drug reviews. In 2017, the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) announced… A series of reforms To bring China’s drug regulation in line with other countries.

But tense international relations could threaten these deals, as evidenced by the recent approval of a deal Revised BIOSECURE Codewhich would prevent Chinese companies from accessing federal funds or cooperating with American companies that depend on US federal funding. However, Chinese candidates have become increasingly licensed, partly through arrangements such as Newco Offerswhere licenses are granted to new external companies rather than directly to existing developers.

“Chinese medicines offer lifeline to global pharmaceutical industries as they approach patent abyss” Originally created and published by Pharmaceutical technologywhich is a trademark of GlobalData.

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