Xinhua News Agency
2026-01-20 10:11
Beijing
Xinhuanet official account
Amidst the reshaping of the global pharmaceutical industry landscape, Chinese innovative pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises are accelerating their "going global" journey into the "deep waters". From early single-point technology licensing to systematic, full-chain global joint research and marketing, and from "products going global" to "capabilities being recognized", Chinese innovative pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises have won the favor of more international capital and multinational pharmaceutical companies with their high-quality innovative achievements.
Recently, at the 44th JPMorgan Healthcare Conference held in the United States, over 20 Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies made a collective appearance. Companies such as WuXi AppTec, BeiGene, Zai Lab, Korun Biotech, Hengrui Pharmaceutical, and Rongchang Biotech not only delivered speeches at the main venue or the Asia-Pacific session, but also actively pursued overseas BD cooperation, released significant clinical data, and showcased cutting-edge technology platforms, demonstrating the strong momentum of Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies in transitioning from "following" to "keeping pace" and even "leading".
"Chinese pharmaceutical companies will bid farewell to the traditional model of simply 'bringing in', and participate in the global pharmaceutical industry competition as equal technology exporters," said an industry insider. China's biomedical innovation strength has been widely recognized by the global market, and many international pharmaceutical giants have incorporated China's innovation capabilities into their core pipeline layouts, and regard China as an important source of innovation.
Liang Jialin, founder of "Healthy National Policy 2050", stated that China's pharmaceutical exports have evolved from product exports 20 years ago and setting up factories abroad 10 years ago to the current "patent exports". By positioning at the high end of the value chain and earning licensing fees, it provides a strong impetus for sustainable follow-up research and development.
According to a report released by Nature in December 2025, among the top ten deals in the global biomedical field that year, five involved Chinese companies, and there was a significant increase in cooperation between large multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies.
In addition, reporters learned from the National Medical Products Administration that in 2025, the total amount of foreign licensing transactions for innovative drugs in China exceeded 130 billion US dollars, with the number of licensing transactions exceeding 150, far exceeding the 51.9 billion US dollars and 94 transactions in the whole year of 2024, setting a new record. China's pipeline of new drugs in research accounts for about 30% of the world's total, ranking second globally.
It is noteworthy that the salient feature of this round of "going global" trend among innovative pharmaceutical companies is the comprehensive upgrade from the early "Going Global 1.0" model, which primarily involved one-time technology transfers, to the new "Going Global 2.0" paradigm, characterized by risk sharing, revenue sharing, and global collaborative development. The scope of cooperation is no longer limited to down payments and milestone payments, but extends deeply into the entire lifecycle of clinical development, registration application, production supply, and commercialization implementation.
Specifically, in July 2025, Hengrui Pharmaceutical reached a potential cooperation agreement worth a total of $12 billion with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with Hengrui receiving an initial payment of $500 million (including the licensing fee for the PDE3/4 inhibitor project). In October 2025, Innovent Biologics and Takeda Pharmaceutical of Japan entered into a strategic cooperation agreement worth $11.4 billion, pioneering a new profit-sharing model. The two parties shared profits in the US market at a ratio of 40% and 60%, achieving complementary strengths and shared risks.
Since the beginning of 2026, multiple pharmaceutical companies have announced overseas licensing collaborations. On the evening of January 12th, RemeGen announced that it had signed an exclusive licensing agreement worth up to $5.6 billion with multinational pharmaceutical company AbbVie for RemeGen's self-developed novel targeted PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody drug RC148.
On January 9th, Yilian Biotech announced that it had reached a new exclusive licensing agreement with Roche for the YL201 project aimed at treating small cell lung cancer. Yilian Biotech will receive an initial payment of $570 million and recent milestone payments, and is entitled to additional development, registration, and commercialization milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on net sales after YL201 is approved for marketing overseas.
Domestic high-end medical device enterprises are also accelerating their overseas expansion. Sun Weisen, Vice President of United Imaging Healthcare, stated that United Imaging Healthcare has established localized research and development and marketing service bases covering North America and Europe. Its products have obtained multiple international certifications and are available in over 200 cities in more than 90 countries and regions worldwide.
Recently, Peninsula Medical officially launched the world's first focused ultrasound skin treatment device certified by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) as Class III, as well as the first Class III radiofrequency microneedle (commonly known as "Golden Microneedle") certified by both NMPA and the US FDA, laying the foundation for its global expansion. Lei Xiaobing, Chairman of Peninsula Medical, said that this further demonstrates the feasibility and competitiveness of Chinese innovative medical devices in going global.
In recent years, with the support and full-chain efforts of multiple parties including the National Healthcare Security Administration, the National Medical Products Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the Ministry of Commerce, China's innovative medical devices have been propelled to "go global". MIIT focuses on strengthening the industrial foundation, increasing support for innovative research and development and industrialization, promoting the digitalization and green transformation of the pharmaceutical industry, and at the same time building cooperation platforms with the BRICS countries and countries jointly participating in the Belt and Road Initiative to support the global supply of medical devices. The Ministry of Commerce has specifically addressed the pain points of "going global". In October 2025, it jointly issued opinions with four departments to establish a comprehensive overseas service system covering the entire process, integrating resources such as legal, financial, and logistics to achieve "one-stop online services", and relying on more than 170 country-specific investment guides and 120 country risk assessment reports to provide support for enterprises.
In terms of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), it promotes industrial upgrading through internationalized regulation. From joining the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) in 2017 to exploring the segmented production of biological products in 2024, the NMPA has continuously deepened its alignment with international standards, optimized export policies, expanded the scope of export certificates, and allowed the application of export certificates for GMP-produced pharmaceuticals and intermediate products, thus removing technical barriers for enterprises to "go global".
From "borrowing a boat to go out to sea" to "building a boat to go out to sea". In the future, with the continuous improvement of the full-chain innovation ecosystem, Chinese innovative pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises are expected to transform from "participants" to "co-builders of rules", playing a more important role in the global health industry and contributing core strength to the realization of the "Healthy China" strategy and technological self-reliance. (Reporter Liang Qian)
Source: Economic Information Daily
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