From 2015 to 2024, China's innovative drug industry has achieved significant success driven by capital, raising 1.23 trillion yuan from the primary and secondary markets, becoming one of the popular areas favored by capital. The influx of capital has not only driven the development of innovative drug companies, but also changed the pattern of the global innovative drug market.
Capital assistance, rise of great companies
Capital has brought strong impetus to China's innovative pharmaceutical industry. In the past decade, the number of domestic A-share listed pharmaceutical companies has increased from 214 to 516, and the number of Hong Kong listed pharmaceutical companies has increased from 77 to 244. New generation innovative pharmaceutical companies such as BeiGene, Xinda Biotech, and Junshi Biotech have gradually established rich product pipelines with the help of capital, launched multiple self-developed products to the market, and built a full chain operation capability for research and development, production, and commercialization. BeiGene has built a research and development pipeline for over 40 products through multiple rounds of financing. Its product Zebutinib will achieve global sales of over 2.6 billion US dollars in 2024, becoming a star product in the field of innovative drugs.
Changing the Global Innovative Drug Market Landscape
Chinese innovative drugs have emerged on the international stage, changing the game rules of the global innovative drug market. In recent years, innovative drugs in China have achieved numerous victories in clinical research, such as Zeneca's Donafenib, BeiGene's Zebutinib, and Kangfang Biotechnology's Ivoxidan, which have defeated internationally renowned drugs in "head to head" trials. These victories not only demonstrate the strength of China's innovative drugs, but also attract the attention of international pharmaceutical companies and investors. In 2024, the number of license out transactions for innovative drugs in China reached 113, with a total amount exceeding 46 billion US dollars, accounting for more than one-third of the external authorized introduction of candidate molecules by large pharmaceutical companies. Chinese innovative drugs have become a popular choice for large overseas pharmaceutical companies due to their advantages of low cost and fast research and development speed.
New Trends in Innovative Drug Investment in China in the Next Decade
With the continuous development of China's innovative pharmaceutical industry, its investment logic is also changing. In the past decade, the influx of capital has been mainly driven by policy dividends; In the next decade, capital will pay more attention to the long-term commercial value of innovative drugs. More and more new generation innovative drug companies are achieving large-scale operating income through product sales, demonstrating profitability potential. Xinda Biotechnology's product revenue exceeded 8.2 billion yuan in 2024, while Zaiding Pharmaceutical's revenue reached 399 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 50%. Goldman Sachs predicts that a group of Chinese biotech companies will achieve breakeven between 2025 and 2026. In the future, Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies will achieve globalization through strategic cooperation, with some companies focusing on niche areas and opening up global markets through cooperation; Some enterprises will transform into profitable biopharmaceutical companies.
In the past decade, capital has injected strong impetus into China's innovative pharmaceutical industry, driving the rise of a number of great companies and changing the global pattern of the innovative pharmaceutical market. In the next decade, China's innovative pharmaceutical industry will continue to achieve a qualitative leap with the support of capital, playing a more important role in the global pharmaceutical innovation landscape.
