China's Innovative Drug Outbound Deals in April 2025 Total $2.84 Billion Amid Strategic Shift Toward Bispecific Antibodies

Apr 28, 2025 18:31 CST Updated 18:31

Hengrui Pharma

Innovative and High-Quality Pharmaceutical Developer

Zhaoke

Ophthalmic Drug Developer

Helixon

AI Technology New Drug Developer

VelaVigo

Innovative Drug Developer

According to incomplete statistics from PharmaTimes,April 2025 China PharmaBD Overseas Transactions Total5Pen,The total amount of the upfront payment has been disclosed.1.52Hundred MillionUSD, Total Amount28.4"Billion US dollars,"Compared to March121.25Billion USD, significantly reduced.

Hengrui Pharma

April 7,HengruiCollaborated with Merck Germany, the latter obtainedSHR7280The exclusive rights to commercialize in mainland China (excluding the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan) and the preferential negotiation rights for SHR7280 outside the authorized region.

Hengrui Pharma Obtains 1An upfront payment of 5 million euros,AndAfter the product receives approval from the Chinese regulatory authority, Hengrui Pharma is eligible for certain milestone payments, whileMerck will pay Hengrui a double-digit percentage royalty on actual annual net sales.

Zhaoke

4Month16Day, Zhaoke OphthalmologyAndInterpharma Public Company LimitedCommercialization in ThailandNVK002(An Innovative Therapy for Controlling the Progression of Myopia);BRIMOCHOL™PF(An Innovative Drug for Treating Presbyopia); andSix Generic Drugs for Glaucoma(Bimatoprost, Bimatoprost Timolol, Latanoprost, Latanoprost Timolol, Travoprost, and Travoprost Timolol)Enter into three separate distribution and supply agreements.

According to the terms of the agreement, Zhaoke Ophthalmology will grantInterpharmaThe exclusive rights to import, distribute, promote, market, and sell these products in Thailand.InterpharmaWill represent Zhaoke Ophthalmology in obtaining relevant local drug registrations. These signed agreements will allow Zhaoke Ophthalmology to receive non-refundable and non-deductible upfront payments, as well as additional milestone payments upon achieving certain accomplishments.

Helixon

April 17,Helixon SubsidiaryEarendil LabsAndSanofi Reaches Licensing Agreements for Two Potential First-in-Class Bispecific Antibodies in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Fields.

According to the agreement, Sanofi will obtain the global exclusive license for two bispecific antibodies, HXN-1002 and HXN-1003, both of which will be developed using Earendil Labs' proprietary artificial intelligence and high-throughput discovery and research platform.

As part of the agreement, Earendil Labs will receive an upfront payment of $125 million and is eligible for development and commercial milestone payments totaling up to $1.72 billion, including a near-term payment of $50 million. Additionally, Earendil Labs is eligible for tiered royalties ranging from high single digits to low double digits on product sales.

Orange Sail Pharma

On April 18, Orange Sail Pharmaceuticals reached an exclusive global licensing agreement with U.S.-based Ollin Biosciences for the self-developed bispecific antibody drug VBS-102.OllinObtain the global development, production, and commercialization rights of the drug outside Greater China, while Orange Sail Pharmaceuticals retains the rights in Greater China. According to the terms of the agreement, the total amount of this transaction can reach up to 440 million US dollars, including upfront payment, development, registration, and commercialization milestone payments. In addition, Orange Sail Pharmaceuticals will receive tiered royalties from sales in the authorized region.

Quanxin Bio

On April 24, Quanxin Biologics announced its collaboration with Caldera TherapeuticsReach cooperation, the latterObtainPreclinical Long-Acting Autoimmune Bispecific Antibody QX030NGlobal exclusive license for development and commercialization.

In return, Quanxin Bio or its designated affiliate will receive a one-time, non-refundable and non-deductible upfront payment of US$10 million and approximately 24.88% equity in Caldera; upon achieving specific clinical development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, Quanxin Bio is also eligible to receive up to an additional US$545 million; furthermore, Quanxin Bio has the right to collect tiered royalties on net sales for a specified period following the first commercial sale of QX030N.

Overview of Overseas Approval and Market Launch

According to incomplete statistics from PharmaTimes,In April, a total of 14 pharmaceutical companies announced that their products had been approved for overseas markets.Part remainsAPI Export.

Among them,CTTQ/Akeso's PD-1Penpulimab: An Innovative Drug Export. April 25Day,Anicano (Penpulimab Injection) has been approved by the U.S. FDA for marketing, indicated for first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and for treatment after progression following at least one platinum-based chemotherapy.As of now, the number of China-produced PD-1 drugs approved in the U.S. has reached three, coming from BeiGene, Junshi Biosciences, and Sino Biopharmaceutical/Akeso.

Summary

The overseas performance of China's innovative pharmaceutical companies in the first quarter of 2025 is remarkable,33 deals, with disclosed amount exceeding 36.2 billion US dollars. Among them, solelyQidePharmaTheBigStrategic Business Cooperation (Over 13 Billion US Dollars) has exceeded this monthTotal authorized outbound amount. Secondly,In the first quarter, ADC was the main force for overseas expansion, with 8 transactions.The disclosed amount has reached$16.527 billion

And in April,Bispecific AntibodyAs the main force for going overseas, 3 out of 5 deals were for bispecific antibodies. It is worth mentioning that the AACR Annual Meeting is currently being held in China.DoteHeterosexual antibodies are quite impressive,Especially in2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC)) Kangfang announced that its subsidiaryIvonescimab (PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody) inHARMONi-2 Study Head-to-Head Defeats the Blockbuster DrugAfter K drug, the attractiveness of multi-antibody in China soared again.Looking forward to relevant deals being reached after the conclusion of this year's AACR Annual Meeting.

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