Sanofi Identifies China as a Key Source for Innovative Pipeline Assets

▎Armstrong

On April 23, 2026, Sanofi announced its Q1 financial report, with revenue of 10.5 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%. Among this, Dupixent sales reached 4.2 billion euros (4.9 billion US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 30.8%, and it is expected to exceed 20 billion US dollars this year.

Sanofi Expands Its Product Pipeline Layout Through Active BD Collaboration, Especially Frequently Making Moves in the Core Field of Immune Inflammation.

Notably, Sanofi has explicitly stated that China has become an important source of its innovative pipeline. Sanofi is actively expanding its presence in China through various means such as BD introductions, equity investments, and out-licensing. In terms of BD introductions, Sanofi has successively introduced Adagene's CTLA-4 pro-antibody and SAFEbody bispecific antibody technology platform,箕星药业's cardiac myosin inhibitor, Helixon's TL1A/IL-23 bispecific antibody and TL1A/α4β7 bispecific antibody, Insilico Medicine’s AI drug discovery platform, 中生制药's JAK/ROCK inhibitor, 天境生物's CD73 antibody, and 维亚臻's APOC3 siRNA, among others. Regarding equity investments, Sanofi has invested in Expedition (which acquired a DPP1 inhibitor from Fosun Pharma), GluBio, and Quantx.

Summary

Not only Sanofi, but almost all MNCs have recognized China's advantages in the efficiency and cost of biopharmaceutical innovation, and have begun to systematically establish themselves in China. Their strategic layout has expanded from simple asset acquisition to a comprehensive and integrated ecosystem approach, including co-development, technology platform collaboration, equity investment, incubators, and more. China's innovative drugs are profoundly reshaping the competitive landscape of the global biopharmaceutical industry.