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Themis Qi

China’s biotechnology market has “significantly” driven up the demand for primate experimental models as the market recovers, tightening the supply of laboratory monkeys, according to a leading biotech firm.
The continued recovery of fundraising and out-licensing deals in innovative drugs in China this year has led to significant growth in the demand for primate experimental models, contract research firm Joinn Laboratories (China) said on Tuesday.
Primate experiments typically use monkeys and other non-human species to test the safety and efficacy of a drug under development before clinical trials on humans.
As global pharmaceutical giants continued their buying spree for China’s cheaper innovative drugs, the price of a lab monkey has climbed as high as 200,000 yuan (US$29,802) in July, compared with only about 50,000 yuan in early 2025, according to Chinese media.
Over US$110 billion worth of Chinese-developed drug candidates were traded in 81 out-licensing deals in the first half of the year, equivalent to 80 per cent of the full-year value in 2025, data from China’s National Medical Products Administration showed.
Joinn added that the price increase resulted from the tightened supply of non-human primates for experimental use in China, as their breeding rate has remained relatively stable.

Shanghai Medicilon, another global contract research organisation, also told investors in July that the overall supply of lab monkeys had contracted amid the biotech industry’s recent recovery.
The shortfall of lab monkeys in China was projected to range between 15,000 and 20,000 from 2026 to 2028, according to a note by Zheshang Securities in March.
Dubbed the “Mao-tai of lab monkeys”, Joinn has significantly benefited from China’s biotech boom, with its Hong Kong-listed shares skyrocketing over 150 per cent since 2025.
In the first half of the year, Joinn reported a net profit of 747.5 million yuan, an 11-fold growth year on year, primarily citing the paper gains of “biological assets”.
Joinn said it owned over 20,000 non-human primates used for breeding and non-clinical research as of December 2025. In its interim results report, the firm said its inventory grew steadily from January to June, though did not divulge specific figures.
In 2022, Joinn spent 1.8 billion yuan to acquire two companies in China’s southwest with a combined inventory of nearly 20,000 non-human primates.
WuXi AppTec, another Chinese biotech giant, acquired a Suzhou-based company for about 804 million yuan, with one of its acquired entities holding about 20,000 macaques.
US pharmaceutical giant Charles River proposed in January to acquire K.F. (Cambodia), one of its monkey suppliers, for US$510 million to secure the non-human primate supply chain.
Laboratory monkey reserves and stable supply had become a core factor in the competitiveness of preclinical contract research organisations, according to Orient Securities analysts.
Demand for the animals would continue to grow, as more Chinese-developed drugs were in the pipeline, they said in a note on August 31, adding that applications for pre-market drug candidates increased by 33 per cent year on year to 627 cases in the first half of 2026.
“In the medium to long-term, the home-developed drugs will account for more share in China’s pipeline of innovative drugs for overseas markets, further increasing the demand for macaques,” the analysts said.


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As fundraising and out-licensing deals in China grow, so does demand for monkeys and other primates for testing


As fundraising and out-licensing deals in China grow, so does demand for monkeys and other primates for testing.


China needs monkeys: lab animal shortage could hinder biotech growth

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As fundraising and out-licensing deals in China grow, so does demand for monkeys and other primates for testing

As fundraising and out-licensing deals in China grow, so does demand for monkeys and other primates for testing