[Updated] Pharma Licensing Deals Involving Chinese Companies in 2023

Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 14, 2022, and was updated on April 29, 2024, as per the latest developments.

In 2023, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry witnessed a total of 124 licensing deals, with a combined transaction value of USD 50.59 billion¹. Compared to the previous year, the transaction value of licensing deals in 2023 increased by 41% year on year, while the number of deals decreased by 38%.

The licensing deals in 2023 can be categorized as follows:

Chinese licensors and overseas licensees: 53 deals, with their total transaction value reached USD 42.59 billion, accounting for 84.2% of all licensing deals in 2023.
Chinese licenses and overseas licensors: 21 deals, with an overall transaction value of USD 4.28 billion.
Chinese licensees and Chinese licensors: 50 deals.

Among the top 10 out-licensing deals from Chinese licensors to overseas companies, the highest overall transaction value—USD 8.4 billion, was achieved by the antibody drug conjugate (ADC) deal licensed from Biokin Pharma to Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS). Table 1 below indicates the basic information of the top 10 out-licensing deals.

Table 1: Top 10 pharma licensing deals with Chinese licensors and overseas licensees in 2023 (ranked by overall transaction value)

No.	Licensor	Licensee	Asset	Overall value (USD million)	Announced
1	Biokin Pharma	BMS	BL-B01D1	8,400	12/12/2023
2	Eccogene	AstraZeneca	ECC5004	2,010	09/11/2023
3	BlissBio	Eisai	BB-1701	2,000	08/05/2023
4	Hansoh Pharma	GSK	HS-20093	1,710	20/12/2023
5	DualityBio	BioNTech	DB-1303; DB-1313	1,670	03/04/2023
6	Hansoh Pharma	GSK	HS-20089	1,570	20/10/2023
7	Wuxi Biologics	GSK	4 Bi- & Multi- specific T cell engaging antibodies	1,500	04/01/2023
8	Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals	Merck	HRS-1167; SHR-A1904	EUR 1,400 million (circa USD 1,500 million)	30/10/2023
9	KBP Biosciences	Novo Nordisk	Ocedurenone	1,300	16/10/2023
10	KYM Biosciences	AstraZeneca	CMG901	1,188	23/02/2023

Among deals involving Chinese companies as licensees, the agreement between Ensem Therapeutics and BeiGene emerged as the top deal in 2023 with the highest overall value of USD 1,330 million for ETX-197, an oral CDK2 inhibitor. Please refer to Table 2 for a list of top 10 deals involving Chinese licensees in 2023.

Table 2: Top 10 pharma licensing deals with Chinese/overseas licensors and Chinese licensees in 2023 (ranked by overall transaction value)

No.	Licensor	Licensee	Asset	Overall value (USD million)	Announced
1	Ensem Therapeutics	BeiGene	ETX-197	1,330	21/11/2023
2	DualityBio	BeiGene	ADC therapy for solid tumors	1,300	10/07/2023
3	VBI Vaccines	Brii Biosciences	VBI-2601 (BRII-179)	437	05/07/2023
4	C4 Therapeutics, Inc.	Betta Pharmaceuticals	CFT8919	392	30/05/2023
5	Daewoong	Chuangsheng Kangqiao, subsidiary of CS Pharmaceuticals	Bersiporocin	336	31/01/2023
6	LIB Therapetucis	Hasten Biopharma	Lerodalcibep	325	12/09/2023
7	BioLineRx	Guangzhou Gloria Biosciences	Motixafortide	279.6	12/10/2023
8	Abbisko Therapeutics	Allist	ABK3376	187.9	01/03/2023
9	Suzhou Zelgen	Grand Life Sciences	Recombinant human thrombin	Circa 181.5 (CNY 1,315 million)	07/12/2023
10	CARsgen Therapeutics	Huadong Medicine	Zevor-cel	Circa 169.1 (CNY 1,225 million)	16/01/2023

Pharma licensing deals involving Chinese companies in H1 2023

Pharma licensing deals involving Chinese companies in 2022

Compared with 2021, 2022 was not a thriving year for cross-border licensing deals involving Chinese biopharmaceutical companies.

From 2021 to 2022, the number of in-licensing deals dropped from 128 to 90 with total value slumping from 15.55 billion USD to 5.84 billion USD. The declines of deal number and value resulted from multiple reasons, including the long-running COVID-19 pandemic, complex international relations, and less financing for biopharmaceutical companies.

Different from the in-licensing deals, the number of out-licensing deals saw an uptick from 50 to 52.1 Their total value soared from 15.58 billion USD to 28.09 billion USD. The rise of out-licensing deals reflects that China’s innovative drug and technology have received higher recognition overseas.

Chinese Biopharma Companies’ Top 10 In-licensing Deals

China’s in-licensing deals trade products in various therapeutic areas: tumor, autoimmunity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatobiliary disease, central nervous system disorder, and viral infection, etc.

The largest deal was between Heidelberg Pharma and Huadong Medicine. Huadong Medicine obtained the exclusive development and commercialization rights of Heidelberg Pharma’s HDP-101 and HDP-103 in Asia (except Japan, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), and the exclusive option for Heidelberg Pharma’s HDP-102 and HDP-104.

View the brief information of top 10 in-licensing deals below:

Top 10 In-licensing Deals Involving Chinese Biopharma Companies in 2022
Licensor	Licensee	Product/ Technology	Disease	Total Value (MM USD)	Upfront Payment (MM USD)	Announced Date
Heidelberg Pharma AG	Huadong Medicine	HDP-101; HDP-103; HDP-102; HDP-104;	Tumor	1,038	20	28/2/2022
Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals	Huadong Medicine	ARCALYST®; Mavrilimumab	Autoimmunity	662	22	23/2/2022
Voronoi Inc	METiS	Pan RAF inhibitor	Tumor	482.2	1.7	13/9/2022
Takeda	Hasten Biopharma	Ebrantil®, Edarbi®, Blopress®, Basen®, and Actos®	Cardiovascular disease; diabetes	322	Not revealed	31/3/2022
Inventiva S.A.	Sino Biopharma-ceutical	Lanifibranor	Hepatobiliary disease	307	12	22/9/2022
Marinus Pharmaceuticals	Tenacia Biotechnology	Ganaxolone	Nervous system disorder	256	10	17/11/2022
Bavarian Nordic	Nuance Pharma	Prophylactic respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine	Viral infection	228	12.5	22/3/2022
NiKang Therapeutics	Hansoh Pharmaceutical	NKT2152	Tumor	218	15	3/5/2022
Palleon Pharmaceuticals	Henlius	Bifunctional HER2- sialidase; a second bifunctional sialidase to be jointed designed	Tumor	196.5	Not revealed	28/6/2022
TiumBio	Hansoh Pharmaceutical	TU2670	Genitourinary disease	170	4.5	8/8/2022

Chinese Biopharma Companies’ Top 10 Out-licensing Deals

The out-licensing deals focused on tumor therapy. The top megadeal worth 9.475 billion USD was inked between Kelun Industry Group and MSD. Kelun granted MSD the exclusive licenses to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize seven pre-clinical antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in the global area except the Chinese mainland, China’s Hong Kong and Macau.

The top 10 deals are listed below:

Top 10 Out-licensing Deals Involving Chinese Biopharma Companies in 2022
Licensor	Licensee	Product/ Technology	Disease	Total Value (MM USD)	Upfront Payment (MM USD)	Announced Date
Kelun Industry Group	MSD	Seven ADCs	Tumor	9,475	175	23/12/2022
Akeso	Summit Therapeutics	Ivonescimab	Tumor	5,000	500	6/12/2022
Adagene	Sanofi	SAFEbody® Multi-Target	Tumor	2,517.5	17.5	2/3/2022
Kelun Industry Group	MSD	SKB264	Tumor	1,410	47	16/5/2022
Insilico Medicine	Sanofi	Six new targets	Not revealed	1,200	21.5	8/11/2022
CSPC Pharma	Elevation Oncology	SYSA1801	Tumor	1,195	27	28/7/2022
LaNova Medicines	Turning Point	LM-302	Tumor	1,025	Not revealed	16/5/2022
Kelun Industry Group	MSD	SKB315	Tumor	936	35	27/7/2022
Jemincare	Roche	JMKX002992	Tumor	650	60	18/8/2022
Henlius	Organon LLC	HLX11; HLX14; HLX13	Tumor	541	73	13/6/2022

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No.	Licensor	Licensee	Asset	Disease	Total Value (USD mm)	Announced Date
1	C4 Therapeutics, Inc.	Betta Pharmaceuticals	CFT8919	NSCLC	367	30/05/2023
2	Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.	Chance Pharmaceuticals	INBRIJA	Parkinson's disease	141	08/05/2023
3	Onconic Therapeutics	Livzon	Zastaprzan	Erosive esophagitis	127	10/03/2023
4	Aligos Therapeutics	Amotop	Oligonucleotide platform	Liver diseases	109	14/05/2023
5	BMX Holdco	Basecare	Acquisition	-	40	15/05/2023
6	Orna Therapeutics	Simnova, affiliate of Simcere	CAR-NK and BiTE-armed CAR-T cell therapies	Tumor	-	05/01/2023
7	PhaseBio	Jixing Pharmaceuticals	PB6440	Cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension	-	06/02/2023
8	Adimmune	Clover Biopharmaceuticals	AdimFlu-S (QIS)	Influenza	-	20/02/2023
9	SCOHIA PHARMA, Inc.	Zhongmei Huadong, affiliate of Huadong Medicine	SCO-094 and its derivatives	Diabetes, obesity, NASH	-	22/02/2023
10	RayzeBio	Ablaze	Glypican-3 (GPC3)-targeted radiotherapy	Liver cancer	-	31/03/2023
11	Kainos Medicine	Aidea Pharma	KM-023	AIDS	-	21/04/2023
12	Cartherics	Shunxi Regenerative Medicine	CAR-T cell product CTH-004	Multiple solid tumors, including ovarian cancer	-	27/04/2023
13	Roche	Hasten Pharma	Rocephin	Bacterial infections	-	04/05/2023
14	Eyedetec Medical	Zhaoke Ophthalmology	Eye Lipid Mobilizer	Dry eye disease (DED); meibomian gland dysfunction	-	08/06/2023
15	Shionogi	Edding Pharm	MULPLETA	Chronic liver disease	-	24/06/2023
Notes: “-” means not revealed. As most of the in-licensing deals’ transaction values were not revealed, it’s difficult to figure out the top 10 deals. Thus, Table 1 presents all the in-licensing deals in H1 2023.

No.	Licensor	Licensee	Asset	Disease	Total Value (USD mm)	Announced Date
1	BlissBio	Eisai	BB-1701	Breast, lung and other solid tumors	2,000	08/05/2023
2	Duality Biologics	BioNTech	Two ADCs: DB-1303; DB-1311	Cancer and autoimmune diseases	1,670	03/04/2023
3	Wuxi Biologics	GSK	Up to four bi- & multi-specific TCE antibodies	Tumor	1,500	05/01/2023
4	KYM Biosciences (joint venture by Keymed and Lepu Biopharma)	AstraZeneca	CMG901	Gastric cancer	1,188	23/02/2023
5	Hutchmed	Takeda	Fruquintinib	Metastatic colorectal cancer	1,130	23/01/2023
6	GeneQuantum Healthcare	Pyramid Biosciences	GQ1010	Tumor	1,000	13/04/2023
7	Highlightll Pharma	Biohaven, subsidiary of Pfizer	BHV-8000	Brain disorders	970	22/03/2023
8	Evopoint Biosciences	AmMax Bio	ADC	Tumor	871	10/01/2023
9	Junshi Biosciences	Dr. Reddy’s	Toripalimab	Tumor	728.3	07/05/2023
10	Jiangsu Hengrui Pharma	Treeline Biosciences	SHR2554	Tumor	706	12/02/2023
Notes: The ranking may be inaccurate as it’s based on the revealed transaction data only.