Human Health
Media
The Financial Times article “Rapid trials prompt deals rush for Chinese ‘super me-too’ drugs” reports on the accelerating pace at which Western pharmaceutical companies are striking major licensing deals in China to access so-called “biobetters” - drugs engineered to improve on known biological targets - fuelled by China’s ability to generate early clinical data through faster, less costly and more flexible trials. With GSK, Merck and AstraZeneca all signing billion-dollar agreements and a third of all assets licensed by big pharma last year originating from China, the piece highlights how China’s vast patient pools, rapid study start-up times, and proliferation of investigator-initiated trials are reshaping global dealmaking. This shift, it notes, creates competitive pressure on US and European biotechs that traditionally relied on Western pharma as buyers.
Forbion General Partner Wouter Joustra features as a key voice in the article, emphasising that “China’s rise is based on a new standard for R&D productivity in terms of time and cost,” calling it an “interesting source of innovation” for global investors and illustrating Forbion’s role through its large financings such as Aiolos, later sold to GSK for up to $1.4bn.
