{"id":185,"date":"2025-07-14T03:22:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T03:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=185"},"modified":"2025-07-14T03:22:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T03:22:01","slug":"chinese-biotech-shares-surge-as-big-pharma-looks-to-license-cancer-treatments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=185","title":{"rendered":"Chinese biotech shares surge as Big Pharma looks to license cancer treatments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=1beb84a6-71c1-494f-8a6c-b10a5da8b01b\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Chinese biotech shares are surging this year on growing optimism over innovative cancer treatments being licensed to western pharmaceutical companies. <\/p>\n<p>The Hang Seng Biotech index, which reflects the performance of the 50 largest such companies listed in Hong Kong, has returned 61.8 per cent so far this year, well ahead of the 20.6 per cent return on the city\u2019s benchmark Hang Seng index. <\/p>\n<p>The rally marks the end of a prolonged bear market for China\u2019s biotech industry. Interest in the sector faded in 2021 as a broader market downturn, US-China tensions and concerns about overvaluation were compounded by an anti-corruption campaign in China\u2019s medical sector and regulatory changes that made drug sales less profitable. <\/p>\n<p>Now, the rapid pace of innovation in Chinese pharmaceuticals and their significantly lower research costs have prompted investors to reconsider the sector. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s huge interest coming back,\u201d said Shannon Cheung, a family office investor and co-founder of Beijing-based Likang Life Sciences, a cancer vaccine biotech. \u201cWe had a nuclear winter for Chinese biotech financing, but green shoots are coming back fast.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3ef56192-ba99-4331-9d14-64c20a342414?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3ef56192-ba99-4331-9d14-64c20a342414?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3ef56192-ba99-4331-9d14-64c20a342414?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3ef56192-ba99-4331-9d14-64c20a342414?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=4 4x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3ef56192-ba99-4331-9d14-64c20a342414?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=5 5x\" width=\"3500\" height=\"2500\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A4d12b41f-3948-4cc6-ba2c-28f16341d3d9?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A4d12b41f-3948-4cc6-ba2c-28f16341d3d9?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A4d12b41f-3948-4cc6-ba2c-28f16341d3d9?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2F98523af0-5e17-11f0-87a1-19ca888cc380-standard.png?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1\" alt=\"Line chart showing Chinese biotech shares have surged after a prolonged slump\" data-image-type=\"graphic\" width=\"3500\" height=\"2500\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Performance has been driven by a resurgence of interest in Chinese biotech companies developing cancer drugs that are competitive, or in some cases superior, to existing western treatments. <\/p>\n<p>There is particular excitement around new variations of PD-1 immunotherapy treatments under development by some Chinese biotechs. New therapies known as PD-1 VEGF have recorded strong clinical results showing they stimulate an enhanced immune response to cancer. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason people are crazy about PD-1 is that it is supposed to treat almost every type of cancer indication,\u201d said Cui Cui, head of Asia healthcare research at Jefferies. <\/p>\n<p>Investors are seeing a trend of Chinese biotechs licensing their treatments to western pharmaceutical companies that are facing a \u201cpatent cliff\u201d as their existing intellectual property protections expire. \u201cThey need to allocate capital and are looking for more promising drugs in China,\u201d said Emily Dong, head of equity at Conning Asia Pacific, an asset manager. <\/p>\n<p>3SBio, based in the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang, signed a deal with Pfizer in May for its PD-1 immunotherapy treatment, which involved an upfront payment of $1.25bn, helping its share price rise 318 per cent this year.<\/p>\n<p>Guangdong-based Akeso, which also makes PD-1 treatments, has proved they can be competitive with Merck\u2019s Keytruda, one of the world\u2019s best-selling drugs, in head-to-head trials. Shares in the company are up 92 per cent this year. <\/p>\n<p>There is also excitement over Chinese versions of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) obesity drugs. Late last year, Hansoh Pharma, based in Jiangsu province, granted Merck an exclusive licensing deal for its GLP-1 drug that is worth up to $1.9bn. Shares of Hansoh are up 86 per cent this year. <\/p>\n<p>China is also innovating at substantially lower costs than its western counterparts, as it benefits from lower salaries and manufacturing costs, a deep pool of researchers and cheaper trials. Leading Chinese biotech companies have already reached positive earnings for the year, noted Jialin Zhang, head of China healthcare research at Nomura. Long development times mean such companies often burn cash for years before turning a profit. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a game-changer,\u201d Zhang said. <\/p>\n<aside aria-labelledby=\"aside-label\" class=\"n-content-recommended--single-story n-content-recommended--inset\" data-component=\"recommended\">\n<p class=\"n-content-recommended__title o3-type-body-highlight\">Recommended<\/p>\n<div class=\"o-teaser o-teaser--article o-teaser--small o-teaser--stacked o-teaser--has-image js-teaser\" data-id=\"f76c2e6b-dcc4-4e2c-a007-b53330226a5f\">\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-container js-teaser-image-container\">\n<div class=\"o-teaser__image-placeholder\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2290\/1288\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"o-teaser__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2F__origami%2Fservice%2Fimage%2Fv2%2Fimages%2Fraw%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%252Fproduction%252Faf49d6bb-6383-4db8-b4d6-b242a0464113.jpg%3Fsource%3Dnext-article%26fit%3Dscale-down%26quality%3Dhighest%26width%3D700%26dpr%3D1?source=next&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;dpr=2&amp;width=240\" alt=\"A researcher working in a state laboratory in China\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>However, uncertainty over US-China relations hangs over the sector. The US is by far the largest market for pharmaceutical companies, making up about 50 per cent of revenues for prescription drugs in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration is threatening tariffs on the pharma sector of up to 200 per cent, but investors have become sceptical that such a steep tariff would be introduced. <\/p>\n<p>US biotech companies have begun to lobby against deals being struck by Big Pharma with China\u2019s sector, said Jefferies\u2019 Cui. But she expects the licensing to continue. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the US government, the priority is still the big guys,\u201d she said. \u201cAs long as you do not hurt the economics of US pharma you will be fine.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Some Chinese companies have bigger ambitions, according to Conning Asia\u2019s Dong. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey want to be Pfizer. That\u2019s their ambition. Whether they have the capability? We\u2019ll have to wait and see,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Chinese #biotech #shares #surge #Big #Pharma #license #cancer #treatments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese biotech shares are surging this year on growing optimism over innovative cancer treatments being licensed to western pharmaceutical companies. The Hang Seng Biotech index, which reflects the performance of the 50 largest such companies [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[240,237,243,236,242,241,238,239,244],"class_list":{"0":"post-185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-big","9":"tag-biotech","10":"tag-cancer","11":"tag-chinese","12":"tag-license","13":"tag-pharma","14":"tag-shares","15":"tag-surge","16":"tag-treatments"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}