China biotech outlicensing tops US$52 billion in first 2 months after global deal surge
The latest deals are Sino Biopharmaceutical’s partnership with France’s Sanofi and Antengene’s agreement with Belgium’s UCB
The string of deals shows how China is becoming a sought-after source of drug candidates for multinational pharmaceutical companies, which are increasingly looking for long-term partnerships rather than one-off arrangements, analysts said.
The latest deals, Sino Biopharmaceutical’s agreement with France’s Sanofi worth up to US$1.53 billion and Antengene Corporation’s agreement with Belgium’s UCB valued at about US$1.18 billion, came as “cross-border transactions by Chinese drug makers in the first two months of the year outpaced any single quarter last year in upfront payments and total value”, according to Yang Huang, head of China healthcare research at JPMorgan Chase.
Hong Kong-listed Sino Biopharmaceutical said in an exchange filing on Wednesday that its Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical unit had granted a subsidiary of Sanofi the exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and sell rovadicitinib, an oral drug to treat blood cancer and immune-related diseases.