New regulations tighten regulatory oversight of China’s investigator-initiated trials (IITs) but legitimize the pathway that will be open to other modalities beyond cell and gene therapies.

The recent multibillion-dollar licensing alliance between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd is not an outlier, but rather the clearest sign yet that China’s biotech industry has entered a new phase of global influence.

Biopharma deal value through the first four months of 2026 reached $92.98 billion, outpacing every recent year and running well ahead of 2025’s strong $79.82 billion over the same period. January and February each cleared $30 billion, while March and April totaled $18.05 billion and $13.3 billion, respectively.

Of all the issues that could be on the table at the talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping, the life sciences sector is the “sweet spot” for collaboration between the two countries in a way that would benefit the world, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in a Brookings Institution webinar in advance of the two-day summit that starts May 14.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. secured an exclusive license to Innovo Therapeutics Inc.’s INV-008, a novel oral 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase inhibitor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), through a potential ₩662.5 billion (US$443.6 million) deal.

Degron Therapeutics Inc. closed a $40 million series A extension round that will see the company advance its molecular glue degraders targeting previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged proteins.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. is paying $60 million up front for an option to secure exclusive rights to Aribio Co. Ltd.’s oral phase III-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy, AR-1001. The option fee plus license agreement has potential to tally $4.7 billion for Aribio, marking the largest deal for an AD asset inked by a Korean biotech company.

Vincentage Pharma Co. Ltd.’s once-daily oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, VCT-220, met the primary endpoints in a pivotal phase III trial in overweight or obese patients in China. Based on the top-line data, the Chengdu, China-based company plans to submit an NDA for chronic weight management to China’s National Medical Products Administration.

Biopharma financing activity is continuing its rebound in early 2026 compared to the past several years. Total funding reached $38.66 billion in the first four months of 2026, more than doubling 2025’s $15.85 billion in the same period and also exceeding 2022 and 2023. While still below the peak years of 2021 and 2024, when financings topped $50 billion in the period, the 2026 total shows a strong recovery.

Med-tech financing activity in the first four months of 2026 reached $10.05 billion, similar to 2025’s $10.31 billion and 2022’s $10.62 billion. While below the peak years of 2019-2021, when financings were above $15 billion in the time period, total value is still above the levels seen in 2023-2024. April saw $1.51 billion raised, compared to $2.44 billion in March, $4.55 billion in February and $1.52 billion in January.