China's Licensing Trends Shaping Global Drug Development

Over the past five years, China's biotech sector's out-licensing deals have increased significantly.

Between 2020 and 2024, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was approximately 21.7% for licensing agreements, which is a significant increase highlighting the strength of innovative drugs coming from China.

This can be attributed to accelerated regulatory reforms, resulting in streamlined drug approvals and extended market exclusivity.

Oncology accounted for 59% of these deals and made up 52% of the total deal value during this time period.

Other therapy areas such as immunology and metabolic disorders have also had interest, accounting for 13% and 8% of deal activity, respectively.

Out-licensing deals associated with mAbs had a total of 46 deals accounting for 36% between 2020-25 with a deal value of $45 billion. Small molecules followed with 32 deals accounting for 25%, with a deal value of $42 billion.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) had fewer deals than mAbs and small molecules with a total of 31 deals (24%) and accounted for a deal value of $40 billon over the 5-year period.

AstraZeneca led big pharma with the most out-licensing deals between 2020 and 2025 YTD, with nine deals valued at approximately $20 billion.

Activity in 2025 was prevalent, with six of the top 10 deals since 2020 occurring during this year.

The Chinese parent companies benefitted from upfront payments for R&D, gaining equity in novel Chinese therapeutics.

As a result, all parties involved have the potential to gain a significant return on their initial investment.

Scope

• This report examines the regulatory initiatives that the Chinese government have implemented in the last decade to accelerate the out-licensing landscape in China.
• The analysis focuses on the surge in out-licensing deals due to China's strengthened R&D capabilities, leading out-licensing deals by therapy areas and modalities, the increased activity between China and bigpharma, and Chinese regulatory reforms to streamline international collaboration.