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Julie Zhang

Riding a wave of booming cross-border dealmaking, China’s AI-driven drug-design firms are charging onto the global stage despite Washington’s growing scrutiny of Chinese biotech firms.
The value of out-licensing deals struck by Chinese biotech companies with top global multinational pharmaceutical companies climbed to US$75 billion in the first five months of 2026, up from zero before 2020, according to Linda Shu, head of China healthcare research at HSBC.
In total, over the five months, these firms struck 169 licensing deals – worth a combined US$93 billion and marking an 87 per cent jump from a year earlier, Shu said in a note on Friday.
The latest example came on Tuesday. Less than two months after its Hong Kong stock market debut, Metis TechBio, an AI-driven drug-design company with operations in China and the United States, signed a cross-border agreement with Boulevard Bio, a biotechnology company backed by New York investment firm Deerfield Management, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on the same day.
Under the deal, Metis TechBio was expected to receive an upfront payment of US$20 million and was eligible for up to US$1.6 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, plus tiered royalties on future product sales.
In return, Boulevard Bio gained global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise MTS-128, Metis TechBio’s next-generation cancer-fighting drug candidate powered by artificial intelligence.


“The successful development of MTS-128 demonstrates Metis TechBio’s capability to deeply integrate AI with protein-drug design,” the company’s CEO, Lai Tsai-Ta, said in the filing.
The company’s shares rose about 6 per cent over the past five days.
AI-powered drug-design tools have the potential to shorten development timelines from years to as few as 18 months, Tsai said in an earlier interview, adding that the technology could also make treatments that reverse biological ageing a reality.
Global pharmaceutical firms are increasingly acquiring Chinese AI-powered drug candidates to replenish pipelines, as patent expirations on blockbuster drugs threaten to erode revenues after 2030.
Hong Kong-listed CSPC Pharmaceutical Group is among the Chinese partners drawing Western investment. In January, AstraZeneca struck a collaboration and licensing agreement with CSPC to co-develop innovative medicines using the company’s AI-driven peptide discovery platform – a deal worth up to US$18.5 billion.
Elsewhere, Ailux, a subsidiary of Shenzhen-headquartered AI-driven drug developer XtalPi Holdings, signed a collaboration and platform-licensing agreement worth up to US$345 million with US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly in November.
HSBC’s Shu said the sector faces a “policy overhang, including the US Biotech Investment National Security Act, which puts more restrictions on business development, and China’s anti-corruption policy, which may impact domestic sales growth”.
However, “fundamentals keep improving for Chinese biotech companies”, she said.


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Global pharmaceutical firms are tapping into Chinese artificial intelligence assets before patents expire on blockbuster drugs, advancing AI-driven biotech


Global pharmaceutical firms are tapping into Chinese artificial intelligence assets before patents expire on blockbuster drugs, advancing AI-driven biotech.


China AI drug-design deals swell as US scrutiny mounts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Global pharmaceutical firms are tapping into Chinese artificial intelligence assets before patents expire on blockbuster drugs, advancing AI-driven biotech

Global pharmaceutical firms are tapping into Chinese artificial intelligence assets before patents expire on blockbuster drugs, advancing AI-driven biotech