China has emerged as a major force in the research and development of innovative therapies. Against this backdrop, Chinese companies have entered significant partnerships in the oncology therapy area in the last five years. Amongst all the therapy areas, exclusive oncology therapy area strategic alliance deals account for 41% of the overall deals, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center Deals Database, over the last five years (2019 to 2023), 537 strategic alliance deals were observed in China. Among these, 218 were exclusively within the oncology therapy area, contributing 41% of the overall deals.

Deals mainly focussed on monoclonal antibodies and small molecules at an average of 73% of deals. Another major area of focus was towards conjugated monoclonal antibodies at 10% of deals.

Nelluri Geetha, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The percentage of deals in China in oncology therapy area has increased gradually from 41% in 2019 to 56% in 2023.”

Top deals were observed around approved therapies. The biggest deal was recorded between Seagen (now Pfizer) and RemeGen for Aidexi (disitamab vedotin), amounting to $2.6 billion in 2021. The second most valuable deal of $1.13 billion occurred in 2023 between Takeda Pharmaceutical and Hutchmed China for Fruzaqla (fruquintinib).

The top five countries for the ongoing Phase I, II, and III clinical trials of innovator oncology drugs in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are China, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and India, with China alone responsible for 59%, followed by Japan with 14% and Australia 12%.

Geetha continues: “China being the most populous country in the APAC region and the world, it also has an expanding pharma market and robust pipeline, thereby meeting the healthcare needs of the increasing population. The immense growth of the pharma industry in China, facilitated growth in the entire APAC region.

Geetha concludes: “China’s innovative therapies and strategic partnerships are about to reform the oncology landscape. The increased number of partnerships for the oncology therapy area and broad focus on small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, and conjugated monoclonal antibodies is expected to bring further change in the oncology landscape in China with a greater number of monoclonal antibodies and small molecules expected to get into the market in near future.”

Note: Strategic alliance deals for multiple therapy areas including oncology also happened. However, for analysis, only exclusive oncology deals were considered.