The first half of 2023 witnessed 45 biopharmaceutical licensing deals involving Chinese companies. Among the deals, Chinese mainland stakeholders are the licensors of 30 deals and the licensees of 15 deals.
The 15 in-licensing deals are listed in Table 1 below. The relevant therapeutic areas are quite dispersed, including tumors, infections, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, and eye diseases.
Table 1: Biopharma licensing deals with Chinese licensees in H1 2023
No. | Licensor | Licensee | Asset | Disease | Total Value (USD mm) | Announced Date |
1 | NSCLC | 367 | 30/05/2023 | |||
2 | Parkinson's disease | 141 | 08/05/2023 | |||
3 | Erosive esophagitis | 127 | 10/03/2023 | |||
4 | Liver diseases | 109 | 14/05/2023 | |||
5 | BMX Holdco | - | 40 | 15/05/2023 | ||
6 | Tumor | - | 05/01/2023 | |||
7 | Cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension | - | 06/02/2023 | |||
8 | Influenza | - | 20/02/2023 | |||
9 | Zhongmei Huadong, affiliate of Huadong Medicine | Diabetes, obesity, NASH | - | 22/02/2023 | ||
10 | Liver cancer | - | 31/03/2023 | |||
11 | AIDS | - | 21/04/2023 | |||
12 | Multiple solid tumors, including ovarian cancer | - | 27/04/2023 | |||
13 | Bacterial infections | - | 04/05/2023 | |||
14 | Dry eye disease (DED); meibomian gland dysfunction | - | 08/06/2023 | |||
15 | 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. | ||||||
16 out of 31 out-licensing deals’ transaction values are revealed. Based on the revealed data, the top 10 out-licensing deals are as follows, eight of which are for oncology.
Table 2: Top 10 biopharma licensing deals with Chinese licensors in H1 2023
No. | Licensor | Licensee | Asset | Disease | Total Value (USD mm) | Announced Date |
1 | Breast, lung and other solid tumors | 2,000 | 08/05/2023 | |||
2 | Cancer and autoimmune diseases | 1,670 | 03/04/2023 | |||
3 | Tumor | 1,500 | 05/01/2023 | |||
4 | KYM Biosciences (joint venture by Keymed and Lepu Biopharma) | Gastric cancer | 1,188 | 23/02/2023 | ||
5 | Metastatic colorectal cancer | 1,130 | 23/01/2023 | |||
6 | Tumor | 1,000 | 13/04/2023 | |||
7 | Biohaven, subsidiary of Pfizer | Brain disorders | 970 | 22/03/2023 | ||
8 | Tumor | 871 | 10/01/2023 | |||
9 | Tumor | 728.3 | 07/05/2023 | |||
10 | Tumor | 706 | 12/02/2023 | |||
Notes: The ranking may be inaccurate as it’s based on the revealed transaction data only. | ||||||
Contact BaiPharm if you’d like to know more about China’s pharma market and regulations.
Previous Report: 2022’s Top 10 Cross-border Licensing Deals Involving Chinese Biopharma Companies
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.1 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. 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.
Numbers of Cross-border Licensing Deals Involving Chinese Biopharma Companies from 2016 to 2022. Source: GBIHealth.
Values (BN USD) of Cross-border Licensing Deals Involving Chinese Biopharma Companies from 2016 to 2022. Source: GBIHealth.
Chinese Biopharma Companies’ Top 10 In-licensing Deals in 2022
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 |
Heidelberg Pharma AG | Huadong Medicine | Tumor | 1,038 | 20 | 28/02/2022 | |
Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals | Huadong Medicine | Autoimmunity | 662 | 22 | 23/02/2022 | |
Voronoi Inc | METiS | Tumor | 482.2 | 1.7 | 13/09/2022 | |
Takeda | Hasten Biopharma | Cardiovascular disease; diabetes | 322 | Not revealed | 31/03/2022 | |
Inventiva S.A. | Sino Biopharma-ceutical | Hepatobiliary disease | 307 | 12 | 22/09/2022 | |
Marinus Pharmaceuticals | Tenacia Biotechnology | Nervous system disorder | 256 | 10 | 17/11/2022 | |
Bavarian Nordic | Nuance Pharma | Viral infection | 228 | 12.5 | 22/03/2022 | |
NiKang Therapeutics | Hansoh Pharmaceutical | Tumor | 218 | 15 | 03/05/2022 | |
Palleon Pharmaceuticals | Henlius | Bifunctional HER2- sialidase; a second bifunctional sialidase to be jointed designed | Tumor | 196.5 | Not revealed | 28/06/2022 |
TiumBio | Hansoh Pharmaceutical | Genitourinary disease | 170 | 4.5 | 08/08/2022 | |
Chinese Biopharma Companies’ Top 10 Out-licensing Deals in 2022
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, as well as China’s Hong Kong and Macau.
The top 10 deals are listed as follows:
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 |
Kelun Industry Group | MSD | Tumor | 9,475 | 175 | 23/12/2022 | |
Akeso | Summit Therapeutics | Tumor | 5,000 | 500 | 06/12/2022 | |
Adagene | Sanofi | Tumor | 2,517.5 | 17.5 | 02/03/2022 | |
Kelun Industry Group | MSD | Tumor | 1,410 | 47 | 16/05/2022 | |
Insilico Medicine | Sanofi | Not revealed | 1,200 | 21.5 | 08/11/2022 | |
CSPC Pharma | Elevation Oncology | Tumor | 1,195 | 27 | 28/07/2022 | |
LaNova Medicines | Turning Point | Tumor | 1,025 | Not revealed | 16/05/2022 | |
Kelun Industry Group | MSD | Tumor | 936 | 35 | 27/07/2022 | |
Jemincare | Roche | Tumor | 650 | 60 | 18/08/2022 | |
Henlius | Organon LLC | Tumor | 541 | 73 | 13/06/2022 | |
Read More
Licensing Deals Involving Chinese Pharma Companies in H1 2022
Are Cross-Border Licensing Deals a Shortcut to China's Pharma Market?
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