China's Innovative Drug Sector Sees Surge in BD Deals in Q4, Highlighted by Innovent’s Record-Breaking $11.4B Transaction

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry DynamicsIn recent years, the number of international licensing collaborations (BD) between Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies and foreign enterprises has been increasing. In the first half of this year, the total value of China's innovative drug BD transactions reached $63.55 billion, surpassing the total for the entire year of 2024, with 16 deals exceeding $1 billion each. Entering the fourth quarter of 2025, China’s innovative drug sector has once again seen a surge in deal activity. Notably, on October 22, Innovent Bio announced a BD (Business Development) deal with a $1.2 billion upfront payment and a total transaction value of up to $11.4 billion, setting a new record for BD transactions in China's innovative drug industry.
 

In addition, Hansoh Pharma, Pregene, VibeBio, Aosaikang, HaiHe Biopharma and other pharmaceutical companies have also recently announced external licensing agreements, covering cutting-edge fields such as ADC, cell therapy, autoimmune diseases, and rare targets in solid tumors.
 

Among them, Hansoh Pharma announced on October 17 that it had signed a licensing agreement with Roche for HS-20110. HS-20110 is a targeted CDH17 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) using a clinically validated topoisomerase inhibitor (TOPOi) payload. Hansoh Pharma granted Roche the exclusive rights to advance the development and commercialization of HS-20110 globally (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). According to the agreement, Hansoh Pharma will receive an upfront payment of $80 million and is eligible to receive milestone payments based on the product's development, regulatory approval, and commercialization progress, as well as tiered royalties on future potential product sales.
 

Aosaikang announced on the morning of the 17th that its controlling subsidiary, AskGene Pharma, has reached a licensing agreement with Visara. Under the agreement, AskGene Pharma will grant Visara the rights to its proprietary Class 1 innovative drug ASKG712 project within the licensed territory for a fee. The upfront payment is $7 million, with additional milestone payments related to research and development, registration, and commercialization, bringing the total transaction amount to $96 million.
 

Pregene Announces Collaboration with Kite on In Vivo Gene Editing Therapy and Signs Licensing and Cooperation Agreement GloballyOn October 16, Pregene announced that the company has reached a collaboration with Kite in the field of in vivo gene editing therapy and signed a licensing and cooperation agreement covering the global region. According to the agreement, Pregene is entitled to and has received an upfront payment totaling US$120 million. Additionally, upon achieving specific milestones, Pregene is also eligible to receive milestone cash payments totaling up to US$1.52 billion, as well as sales royalties based on future net product sales.
 

HaiHe Biopharma announced on the 16th that the company and Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Japan have reached an exclusive licensing agreement for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase α (PI3Kα) inhibitor, resmetinib, in Japan. The drug has received orphan drug designation in Japan and a marketing authorization application for the treatment of ovarian clear cell carcinoma has already been submitted by HaiHe Pharma Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HaiHe Biopharma in Japan.
 

LEOVI Biologics announced on the 16th that it had entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Dianthus Therapeutics for DNTH212 (LEOVI development code: LBL-047), an investigational, extended half-life bifunctional fusion protein. Under the terms of the agreement, Dianthus will pay LEOVI up to $38 million, including $30 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments, as well as an additional $8 million milestone payment following the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study led by Dianthus, to obtain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize DNTH212 globally outside Greater China. LEOVI is also eligible to receive up to $962 million in additional development and regulatory approval milestones, sales milestones across multiple indications, and tiered royalties ranging from mid-single-digit to low double-digit percentages on net sales from Greater China.
 

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The industry believes that the "surge" in BD of domestically produced innovative drugs in the fourth quarter is backed by the rise of competitiveness of China's innovative drug companies and the recognition from multinational pharmaceutical companies. This model is expected to continue prevailing in the future.
 

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