Chinese Innovative Biopharma Koeei Pharma Secures $1.32B Global Out-Licensing Deal for First-in-Class Tandem-Enhanced Dual-Target CAR-T Therapy KQ-2003

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry DynamicsRecently, China's innovative pharmaceutical companies have been reporting frequent successes in "Licence Out" deals involving huge transactions. On July 23, Novatim announced that it had reached an exclusive overseas licensing agreement with U.S.-based ERIGEN for KQ-2003, the world’s first dual-targeted CAR-T cell therapy product with enhanced parallel functionality.
 

Public information shows that KQ-2003 is a CAR-T therapy. It mainly uses genetic engineering technology to artificially modify the T lymphocytes of tumor patients. After being cultured in large quantities in vitro, tumor-specific CAR-T cells are generated and then reinfused into the patient's body to attack cancer cells, thereby achieving the goal of treating the disease.
 

As of now, there are six CAR-T therapies approved in China. Prior to the overseas launch of KQ-2003, Legend Biotech's Cilta-cel injection successfully entered international markets through a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson in the U.S. According to Johnson & Johnson’s 2025 half-year report, the product achieved revenue of $808 million in the first half of the year, doubling its growth.
 

According to the terms of this cooperation, Novatim will receive a near-term development milestone payment of 15 million US dollars and is expected to obtain subsequent R&D, registration, and commercialization milestone payments of up to 1.32 billion US dollars.
 

In addition, recently, Chinese innovative companies such as Hansoh Pharma, 3SBIOINC, and CSPC have also signed major "Licence Out" deals.
 

Among them, Hansoh Pharma and Regeneron reached a collaboration this year, granting the latter an exclusive global license for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of HS-20094. The upfront payment was $80 million, with eligibility to receive up to $1.93 billion in milestone payments, as well as double-digit percentage royalties on future potential product sales. HS-20094 is a GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist that has completed multiple Phase II trials and is currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials in China.
 

On May 20, 3SBIOINC, along with its subsidiaries 3SBio Group and 3SBio Genetech, signed an agreement with Pfizer to grant the global (excluding mainland China) development, production, and commercialization rights of their self-developed PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody SSGJ-707 to Pfizer. 3SBIOINC received an upfront payment of $1.25 billion, along with potential development, regulatory approval, and sales milestone payments of up to $4.8 billion, bringing the total potential value of the deal to $6.05 billion. Additionally, Pfizer subscribed to $100 million worth of ordinary shares of 3SBIOINC on the effective date of the agreement, further strengthening their partnership.
 

On May 15, CSPC PHARMACEUTICAL GROUP LIMITED licensed the U.S. rights of its Irinotecan Liposome Injection to Cipla, receiving a $15 million upfront payment and milestone payments exceeding $1 billion. On June 13, CSPC entered into a strategic R&D collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca. Under the agreement, CSPC will discover preclinical candidate drugs (PCCs) with multi-indication therapeutic potential for multiple targets selected by AstraZeneca, receiving an upfront payment of $110 million. CSPC is also entitled to receive up to $1.62 billion in potential R&D milestone payments, up to $3.6 billion in potential sales milestone payments, and royalties on sales, bringing the total potential value of the deal to $5.33 billion.
 

A brokerage research report pointed out that the total amount of China's innovative drug License out in the first half of 2025 has approached 66 billion US dollars, surpassing the total BD transaction volume for the entire year of 2024. ADC and bispecific antibodies were important transaction categories in the first half of 2025. Regarding the outlook for future pharmaceutical industry BD, the report believes that transactions in the ADC and bispecific antibody fields are expected to continue in the short term, with several related BD deals potentially closing in the second half of 2025. In the medium to long term, BD of platform products such as tri-specific antibodies, CAR-T, TCE, and stem cells is expected to increase rapidly. In terms of disease spectrum, MNC companies have shown a significant increase in their willingness to purchase products related to metabolic endocrinology and autoimmune diseases.
 

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