After raising $292 million in its Hong Kong IPO, AI discovery and development biotech, Insilico Medicine, signed an R&D collaboration with French pharma Servier SA valued at $888 million to discover and develop innovative oncology therapies by combining Insilico's AI-driven drug discovery platforms with Servier's global expertise in cancer drug development.

Abbvie Inc. signed a $1.1 billion New Year’s Eve deal with China’s Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., gaining ex-China rights to Zelgen’s lead oncology asset, alveltamig (ZG-006), a trispecific T-cell engager targeting delta-like ligand 3. Under terms of the deal, Abbvie will pay Zelgen an up-front fee of $100 million, and Zelgen is eligible to receive $60 million in near-term milestones and could receive up to $1.075 billion in additional development, regulatory and commercial milestones, alongside tiered royalties on net sales outside China. Zelgen retains full rights in China.

The newly released 2026 edition of Clarivate’s Drugs to Watch report highlights 11 potential blockbusters that could change treatment paradigms for patients.

South Korea’s National Assembly approved the largest budgets for its health ministries in 2026, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Asia, led by China, is no longer just following global pharma trends. It is helping to shape them, and for investors, innovators and policymakers, the question is no longer whether to engage with Asia, but how to engage wisely in this new, more complex world.

Hutchmed (China) Ltd. has moved closer to establishing China’s first domestically developed FGFR-targeted therapy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, after the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) accepted its NDA for fanregratinib (HMPL-453) and granted the drug priority review.

Hanx Biopharmaceuticals (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. raised HK$586 million (US$75.37 million) in its IPO on the Hong Kong Securities Exchange (HKEX:3378) on Dec. 23 to advance its clinical stage immuno-oncology pipeline.

China’s National Medical Products Administration approved Innovent Biologics Inc.’s NDA for Tabosun (ipilimumab N01, IBI-310) in combination with sintilimab as neoadjuvant treatment for stage IIB-III resectable microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient colon cancer.

U.S. policy, China’s strategic rise, blockbuster deals and AI dominated South Korea’s biotechnology industry this year, with U.S. tariffs and the Biosecure Act’s hitch onto 2026 legislation serving as major topics of speculation.