Major International Collaborations by Zhengda Tianqing and Hengrui Signal a New Era of Win-Win Growth in China's Pharma Industry

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry Dynamics】 Recently, Sino Biopharm announced that its subsidiary, Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group, has reached a strategic cooperation with GSK, securing the sales rights for the hepatitis B new drug Bepirovirsen in China. According to the agreement terms, Chia Tai Tianqing will be responsible for the import, distribution, hospital access, as well as promotional and non-promotional activities of Bepirovirsen in mainland China. All sales revenue generated from this product will be recognized as Chia Tai Tianqing's operating income.
 

CHIATAI TIANQING will procure bepirovirsen from GSK according to the agreed supply terms during the initial 5.5-year cooperation period, and thereafter, both parties may extend the cooperation period upon mutual agreement.
 

It is reported that Bepirovirsen is a first-in-class therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in adults. In China, the drug has been included in the priority review and approval process by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE). GSK predicts that the drug’s global annual sales peak could exceed £2 billion (approximately 19.5 billion yuan).
 

CHIATAI TIANQING has been deeply engaged in the field of liver diseases for decades, possessing an extensive commercial network covering over 5,000 medical institutions at all levels. With the introduction of Bepirovirsen, the company's liver disease product line will extend from "suppression" (Entecavir, TDF, etc.) to "cure." Meanwhile, products in the company’s self-developed pipeline, such as TQA3605 (HBV core protein allosteric modulator) and TQ-A3334 (TLR-7 agonist), can also form combination therapies with Bepirovirsen in the future, building a strong competitive barrier.
 

The industry believes that this cooperation is not simply a product introduction, but a strategic combination of "product" and "channel" precisely matched by leading pharmaceutical companies in China and abroad. In fact, this also reflects that local large pharmaceutical enterprises are leveraging their own advantages to build a more comprehensive global ecosystem. In recent years, many multinational pharmaceutical companies have also chosen to cooperate with leading local enterprises in China to accelerate the commercialization of innovative drugs in the Chinese market.
 

On May 12, 2026, Hengrui Pharma announced that the company had reached a global strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with BMS to jointly advance 13 early-stage projects covering oncology, hematology, and immunology, in order to accelerate the development of innovative drugs. This cooperation agreement includes four Hengrui oncology and hematology projects, four BMS immunology projects, and five innovative projects jointly developed by both parties leveraging Hengrui's R&D engine and diversified innovative technology platforms, none of which have yet entered the clinical research stage.
 

According to the agreement, BMS will pay Hengrui up to 9.5 billion US dollars in relevant payments, including a 6-billion-US-dollar upfront payment, a 1.75-billion-US-dollar first anniversary payment, and a conditional second anniversary payment of 1.75 billion US dollars in 2028. The potential total transaction value of the agreement could reach approximately 15.2 billion US dollars.
 

Based on BMS's differentiated R&D advantages, global clinical development capabilities, registration expertise, and commercialization scale, as well as Hengrui Pharma's drug research engine, technology platforms, and highly efficient early-stage research capabilities, this collaboration will accelerate the advancement of a series of high-value projects.
 

Overall, the two collaborations mentioned above indicate that China's pharmaceutical industry has upgraded from being a "generic drug powerhouse" to an innovation hub with global resource integration capabilities. In the future, the model of "separating product ownership and commercialization rights" may become a new trend for multinational corporations (MNCs) to accelerate the commercialization of innovative drugs in China. Pharmaceutical companies that can precisely integrate cutting-edge global products with local commercialization capabilities, and deeply embed themselves into the global early-stage R&D chain, are likely to seize more opportunities in global competition.
 

　　Disclaimer: Under no circumstances shall the information or opinions expressed in this article constitute investment advice to any person.