Hengrui's $12B BD Deal Is Just the Beginning: Haisco and Zenith Epimab Set to Follow

On the morning of July 28, "Pharma Leader" Hengrui Pharma surprised the capital market with a gift:

Hengrui Pharma Announces Collaboration with GSK: Global Exclusive Rights to COPD Drug PDE3/4 Inhibitor HRS-9821 and Global Options for 11 Early-Stage Projects Sold to GSK for an Upfront Payment of $500 MillionNearly half of Hengrui Pharma's net profit in the first half of last year; total milestone payments amount to 12 billion US dollars.

Upon the announcement, Hengrui Pharma's A-shares hit the daily limit, while its H-shares surged over 24%, instantly igniting the capital market.

GSK is eyeing the prospects of PDE3/4 in the COPD field. Just three weeks ago,Merck & Co. acquired U.S.-based Verona Pharma for $10 billion,The purpose is a PDE3/4 inhibitor drug.

Two giants successively invested hundreds of billions, making the originally low-key COPD track completely boil over. It is worth pointing out that currently,All investigational products targeting PDE3/4 inhibitors are from local Chinese pharmaceutical companies.They are Zhengda Tianqing, Haisco, and Hengrui Pharma. This also means that multinational pharmaceutical companies that want to gain a foothold in this field will inevitably have to contend with Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies.

The capital market has begun to bet on the next lucky one. As of the close of trading today,China Biopharmaceuticals rises over 7%, Haisi Science hits the daily limit,A race in the COPD track has begun.

The Billion-Dollar COPD Track Ignited

This BD, with a total milestone of 12 billion US dollars, involves quite a few projects, but the 11 products in the fields of oncology, respiratory, and autoimmune are all at a relatively early stage.GSK is mainly aimed at acquiring Hengrui's COPD drug HRS-9821.

COPD is a common chronic respiratory disease that damages the patient's lungs, leading to progressive decline in lung function, persistent cough, and breathing difficulties.More than 3 million people die each year as a result.Ranked by the World Health Organization as the third leading cause of death globally, COPD is also known as the "silent killer" due to its insidious early symptoms. Traditional treatment options primarily focus on relieving symptoms through long-acting bronchodilators, while inhaled corticosteroids are used for their anti-inflammatory effects.

Traditional therapies for COPD have significant clinical limitations and are suitable for only a small population. For more than a decade, no new drugs for COPD treatment emerged—until last year, when the pharmaceutical industry made a breakthrough. In June 2024, ensifentrine, a PDE3/4 dual inhibitor developed by Verona Pharma in the U.S., was approved for marketing in the United States.Becoming the first new drug for COPD treatment approved by the FDA in nearly 20 years;A month later, Sanofi's Dupilumab was approved for marketing in the EU, becoming the world's first biologic drug to treat COPD.

Compared with the two new drugs, Dupilumab's market performance is obviously better. After winning the COPD indication in Europe, America, and China in 2024, DupilumabSales reached 13.072 billion euros,Has become the best-selling autoimmune product globally.

Although Ensfen Group was launched earlier than Dupilumab, Verona Pharma's smaller scale could only watch as Sanofi's "blockbuster autoimmune drug" rose to prominence. However, due to its excellent therapeutic effects, Ensfen Group’s sales have remained strong. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Ensfen Group generated revenue of $36.6 million, which increased to $71.3 million by the first quarter of 2025, already demonstrating the potential of a "billion-dollar molecule."

Analysts on Wall Street have even predicted,By 2035, the annual peak sales of Ensifen Group may reach nearly $4 billion, igniting market enthusiasm for pursuing PDE3/4-targeted drugs.

GSK has long been a major player in the respiratory field, with its blockbuster product "Trelegy" used to treat COPD. However, this product's patent is about to expire. GSK searched globally and eventually found Hengrui Pharma’s pipeline, hoping to consolidate its leading position in the respiratory field. In this context, the $500 million upfront payment doesn’t seem too expensive.

Who will be the next lucky one?

The curtain has just risen on tens of billions of dollars in BD, and standing on the stage are not only Hengrui Pharma but also others.

The clinical burden of COPD is heavy, with a large patient population and limited treatment options, undoubtedly making it a highly potential super blue ocean market. According to forecasts by some institutions, the global Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) market was valued at $13.25 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $22 billion by 2032. As Merck and GSK have successively invested billions of dollars in acquiring PDE3/4 inhibitors, this has already ignited the PDE3/4 dual-target inhibitor track, and the next big BD deal is just around the corner.

It can be determined that in the next major BD,The trading partners of multinational pharmaceutical companies will still be Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies, because the ones with the most advanced progress around the PDE3/4 target are all in China.

According to the NextPharma database by PharmaCube, among the global pipelines under research, there are only three clinical-stage counterparts of PDE3/4 dual inhibitors, which are respectively from CT Tianqing, Haisco, and Hengrui Pharma.The product of Zhengda Tianqing has progressed to Phase III clinical trials, while Haisco's product has entered Phase II clinical trials.Multinational pharmaceutical companies that want to lay out PDE3/4 can't bypass Chinese pharmaceutical companies.

Especially,In terms of convenience, products developed by innovative Chinese pharmaceutical companies have also made improvements.Ensiphenadine requires twice-daily administration via a nebulizer, with each session lasting 5-7 minutes, while the products from Zhengdatianqing, Hengrui Pharma, and Haishikang are also inhaled powder formulations.The medication time can be shortened to a few seconds, offering superior compliance.

It is not difficult to predict that after GSK and Hengrui reached a billion-dollar BD deal, the PDE3/4 inhibitor track will continue to heat up. Chinese companies holding the world's only remaining clinical assets are ushering in unprecedented opportunities. Who will be the next lucky one? We wait and see.

By reporter Fang Taozhi

Editor: Jiang Yun, Jia Ting

Operation | Chenxi

Illustration | Visual China

Statement: Original content by Jian Shi Ju, please do not reprint without permission.

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