Factbox: US drugmakers turn to China for licensing deals
FACTBOX-US drugmakers turn to China for licensing deals Sept 28 (Reuters) - Merck MRK.N on Monday agreed to pay Chinese biotech SciBrunch Therapeutics $400 million upfront for global rights to an experimental cancer drug, making it the latest US drugmaker to license China-developed medicines.
Chinese biotechs often retain domestic rights and license their drugs overseas in exchange for upfront and milestone payments as well as royalties.
Some major deals are listed below:
Date | US company | Chinese company | Deal type | Assets/programs | Upfront value | Potential value |
September 2026 | Merck MRK.N | SciBrunch Therapeutics | Licensing | SPR2015, experimental cancer drug | $400 million | Up to $2.13 billion |
May 2026 | Pfizer PFE.N | Innovent Biologics 1801.HK | Licensing | 12 early-stage oncology programs | $650 million | Up to $10.5 billion |
May 2026 | Bristol Myers Squibb BMY.N | Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals 600276.SS | Licensing | 13 early-stage programs in oncology, hematology and immunology | $600 million | Up to $15.2 billion |
February 2026 | Eli Lilly LLY.N | Innovent Biologics | Licensing | Experimental cancer and immunology drugs | $350 million | Up to $8.85 billion |
January 2026 | AbbVie ABBV.N | RemeGen 688331.SS | Licensing | RC148, experimental cancer drug | $650 million | Up to $5.6 billion |
June 2025 | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN.O | Hansoh Pharma | Licensing | HS-20094/olatorepatide, GLP-1/GIP obesity drug | $80 million | Up to $2.01 billion |
May 2025 | Pfizer | 3SBio 1530.HK | Licensing | SSGJ-707, experimental cancer drug | $1.25 billion | Up to $6.05 billion, not including Pfizer's $100 million equity investment |
December 2024 | Merck | Hansoh Pharma 3692.HK | Licensing | HS-10535, oral weight-loss pill | $112 million | Up to $2 billion |
November 2024 | Merck | LaNova Medicines | Licensing | LM-299, experimental cancer drug | $588 million | Up to $3.3 billion |
June 2024 | AbbVie | FutureGen Biopharmaceutical | Licensing | FG-M701, experimental inflammatory bowel disease drug | $150 million | Up to $1.71 billion |
December 2023 | Bristol Myers Squibb | Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical 688506.SS /SystImmune | Licensing | BL-B01D1, experimental antibody cancer drug | $800 million | Up to $8.4 billion |
December 2022 | Summit Therapeutics SMMT.O | Akeso 9926.HK | Licensing | Ivonescimab, experimental cancer therapy | $500 million | Up to $5 billion |
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
((siddhi.mahatole@thomsonreuters.com;))
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