Confidence in growing in-house commercial capabilities has recently prompted several Chinese pharmas, including Simcere and 3SBio, to focus on obtaining domestic rights to novel drug assets developed by other China-based biotechs, rather than pursuing international deals.

China's research-based pharma companies reported mixed third-quarter results for their anti-PD-1 antibodies, BTK and PARP inhibitors amid broader challenges including an ongoing government-led anti-corruption campaign.

Topics in this latest Chinese-language podcast include the US approval of Chinese innovative drugs including Junshi’s anti-PD-1 antibody toripalimab, Sanofi’s deal with BioMap for AI-powered drug discovery, Chinese companies' third-quarter results and the Biden-Xi summit on the sidelines of APEC and its implications for bilateral regulatory dialog.

Plus deals involving Fujimoto/Egetis, Chugai/Cheplapharm, Celest/Senti, Shionogi/Apnimed, Jiangsu Hengrui/Merck KGaA, Jiangsu Hengrui/Elevar, Sun/Zydus, C4U/Healiva, Shanghai Henlius/Intas, Ono/Turbine, EpimAB/Almirall and Alar/Indivior.

Among multinationals, AstraZeneca has reported its commercial activities have been negatively impacted by China's broad anti-corruption campaign, while J&J has seen some affect from the country's volume-based procurement scheme. Roche, Lilly and Novartis have also reported some softness in the last quarter versus the previous three months.

Sirius Therapeutics’ $60m series B signified venture capital firms’ reviving interest in Chinese developers of nucleic acid drugs. Meanwhile, Angitia Biopharmaceuticals’ $46m series B extension round underscored investors’ attention to the musculoskeletal diseases area.