Speed and innovation from Asia Pacific’s (APAC) biotechnology sector had big pharma scouring the region for the next oncology heir to Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck & Co. Inc.’s reigning blockbuster cancer drug.
Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. and its partner Merck KGaA got an early Christmas present from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) with the approval of pimicotinib (ABSK-021), the first domestically developed systemic therapy for tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT).
Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Group Co. Ltd. is outlicensing its phase I pan-KRAS inhibitor, JAB-23E73, to Astrazeneca plc in a global deal worth up to $1.915 billion that gives Astrazeneca global rights to the compound outside of China, and the two companies will jointly develop and commercialize the asset in China.
Big pharma is increasingly shopping in China to fill its pipelines as it faces looming patent cliffs on major blockbusters coupled with growing pricing pressures on drugs. As previously reported by BioWorld, China’s out-licensing deals grew to represent 32% of global deals in the first half of 2025, up from 21% in 2024, and only 5% in 2020, Jefferies Hong Kong-based analyst Cui Cui wrote in a July 2025 report on China dealmaking.
D3 Bio Inc. secured $108 million in a series B financing round Dec. 9 to support its planned phase III program of lead oral KRAS G12C inhibitor, elisrasib (D3S-001).
China unveiled its first Commercial Health Insurance Innovative Drug List (CIIDL), reimbursing 19 high-value innovative drugs, including all five domestically developed CAR T therapies as well as treatments for rare diseases and Alzheimer's disease.
China’s clinical trial volume has surged to nearly U.S. scale and now tops Europe, sitting at about 80% of U.S. levels and roughly 10% above the EU in 2024.
Seventy-three pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies from mainland China filed for IPOs in Hong Kong this year, a review by BioWorld found. In the second half of 2025, 43 new securities reports were filed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, increasing from the 30 applications in the first half.
Bao Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., a developer of subcutaneous biologic drugs, priced its IPO at HK$26.38 on Dec. 2, aiming to raise about HK$1 billion (US$128 million). Bao expects net proceeds of HK$921.5 million after expenses, which will fund its “two-anti” strategy – developing both antibody and antibiotic drugs worldwide, mainly in China, the U.S. and Europe.
Hightide Therapeutics Inc.’s berberine ursodeoxycholate (HTD-1801) met the primary endpoint showing superior improvements in key cardiometabolic markers in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to Astrazeneca plc’s SGLT2 inhibitor, Farxiga (dapagliflozin), in a head-to-head phase III trial.
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