Growing China Biopharma Market Appealing to US Investors: Importance for Life Sciences Executive Search Consultants
The growing biopharmaceutical market in China has become increasingly appealing to international entrepreneurs and investors, with recent developments continuing to attract U.S. biotech companies and big pharma to Chinese biotechs, CROs, and CDMOs. Over the past decade, China has proved itself a major player in the cell and gene therapy (C>) space in particular, within research, innovation, and manufacturing.
There is a surge in China biopharma innovation today, with publicly listed companies across the Nasdaq, Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), and Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR) moving from $3B in 2016 to more than $380B as of July 2021. Chinese biotech companies account for $180B of that amount (Han et al., 2021). So how has the biopharma industry in China cemented its place in biotech?
Since the early 2000s, when pharma companies began scouting for potential industry expansion outside the US, China won out for its similar market regulation, expanding talent pools of scientists, chemists, and engineers; and wide availability of affordable CROs (Tong, 2021). Big pharma companies such as Lilly, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Roche, J&J, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis all set up branches in China (concentrated in Shanghai) for the ease of recruiting talent, and the affordable R&D. Naturally, the mix of talented individuals in these multinational hubs spawned a new generation of biotech workers and entrepreneurs (Tong, 2021).
For the last two decades, partnerships in China biopharma have been almost exclusively with multinational pharma companies. For example, in January 2021 Novartis collaborated with BeiGene in a $650M+ deal to in-license its drug tislelizumab – a PD-1 inhibitor used to treat intractable Hodgkin lymphoma and bladder cancer – after Novartis’s PD-1 candidate failed in late stage clinical trials. And Biogen sought the innovation of InnoCare Pharma’s molecule orelabrutinib to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) in July 2021 to stay competitive in a rapidly emerging space. However, less overtly commercial relationships are developing recently as China biopharma becomes increasingly involved in the US biopharma landscape.
A few weeks ago, Carl June, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of Tmunity, joined the scientific advisory board as chairman at Nanjing Bioheng Biotech. June’s working relationship with Bioheng was established through the company’s CSO, Jiangtao Ren, who had worked as a researcher in June’s lab on “multiplex genome editing,” which could yield universal CAR-T cells (Tong, 2021).
Both Bioheng and Tmunity use a CRISPR technique to genetically engineer CAR-T cells, and are developing therapeutics to target hematological cancers as well as solid tumors. In an interview with Endpoints News, June said “Bioheng has made impressive progress in both universal CAR-T and enhanced CAR-T for solid tumor, and achieved outstanding clinical results” (Tong, 2021).
A faster clinical application from drug discovery is one of the appealing draws to U.S. biotech companies that partner with China biopharmas. While current regulatory requirements in China are not as stringent as those imposed by the FDA, the Chinese authority’s ability to quickly mobilize and set up the capabilities for R&D required in the C> space is impressive (Byrne, 2021). In addition, China is working on strengthening its IP laws as part of its strategy to drive national innovation, making it an easier process for U.S. biotech companies to establish workable terms in collaboration (Byrne, 2021).
Life sciences executive search consultants working in the C> space should anticipate an increase in partnerships similar to the one between Tmunity and Bioheng in the coming years, as U.S. biotech companies with adequate funding and multinational connections continue to deepen collaborative relationships with innovative China biopharma.
The ability to anticipate trends in the rapidly changing biotech industry is key to placing the best biotech executive leaders in novel spaces and in-demand roles. With deep working knowledge of the needs of U.S. biotech companies pursuing collaboration within China biopharma, BayBridge’s life sciences executive search consultants provide a wealth of competence and capability in this space.
If you’re interested in learning more about BayBridge’s Talent Management approach to executive search, please get in touch with one of our expert life sciences consultants today.
References
Byrne, J. (14 June 2021). Analyst: China is a sleeping giant in the C> space but one that is awakening. Biopharma Reporter. https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2021/06/14/Analyst-China-is-a-sleeping-giant-in-the-CGT-space-but-one-that-is-awakening#
Han, K., Le Deu, F., Zhang, F., & Zhou, J. (29 October 2021). Chinese biopharma is making a mark on the global stage as the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape and maturning innovation ecosystem spur significant value creation. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/life-sciences/our-insights/the-dawn-of-china-biopharma-innovation
Tong, A. (20 October 2021). Carl June lends ‘wings’ to Chinese CAR-T startup led by former post-doc, pursuing off-the-shelf approach with CRISPR flavor. Endpoints News. https://endpts.com/carl-june-lends-wings-to-chinese-car-t-startup-led-by-former-postdoc-pursuing-off-the-shelf-approach-with-crispr-flavor/
Tong, A. (26 October 2021). How China turned the tables on biopharma’s global dealmaking. Endpoints News. https://endpts.com/how-china-turned-the-table-on-biopharmas-global-dealmaking/
