① An upfront payment of $500 million, with a total BD amount reaching $12.5 billion; ② In the first half of this year, the License-out value of Chinese pharmaceutical companies has exceeded $60.8 billion, surpassing the total for all of last year, and the annual growth rate is expected to reach a recent high.
Cailian News, July 28 (Reporter Lu Afeng) The wave of innovative drug BD (out-licensing deals) continues, and today's morning session, $HENGRUI PHARMA (01276.HK)$ announced that it has reached a License-out cooperation with $GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.US)$ GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) with a total potential amount of up to $12.5 billion, covering one respiratory system innovative drug in the clinical stage and up to 11 preclinical candidate projects.
According to the announcement, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals will grant GSK the exclusive global rights (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan) to the HRS-9821 project and the exclusive option for up to 11 projects (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan).
HRS-9821 is an innovative drug under development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a mechanism that simultaneously inhibits PDE3 and PDE4. It has shown potential for bronchodilation and anti-inflammatory effects in preclinical and early clinical studies and has received clinical trial approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China. The project is intended to be developed as a dry powder inhaler.
In addition to HRS-9821, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals has provided GlaxoSmithKline with the option to develop up to 11 early-stage projects, covering therapeutic areas such as oncology, respiratory diseases, autoimmune disorders, and inflammation. These projects are currently in the preclinical stage, and Hengrui will lead their development through Phase I clinical trials, including overseas data. GlaxoSmithKline has the right to exercise global rights at specified milestones and can replace some of the projects. The transaction structure includes an upfront payment of $500 million and additional milestone payments at various stages of option exercise, development, registration, and commercialization, with a total potential value of up to $12.5 billion.
Today's opening, Hong Kong stocks $HENGRUI PHARMA (01276.HK)$ opened significantly higher; innovative drug concept stocks saw increased gains during the session, with Hengrui Pharmaceuticals surging by 16%. $SINO BIOPHARM (01177.HK)$ 涨超6%， $3SBIO (01530.HK)$ and gains exceeding 5%.
Since 2025, Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies have been accelerating their overseas expansion, with License-out transactions showing a trend of both increasing volume and value. From the beginning of the year to now, multiple companies, including $INNOVENT BIO (01801.HK)$ 3SBIO, $HENLIUS (02696.HK)$ 、 $HUTCHMED (00013.HK)$ have密集披露海外合作进展，交易金额屡次刷新行业纪录。
According to PharmaDJ data, in 2024, Chinese pharmaceutical companies completed 94 licensing deals with overseas partners, with a total transaction value reaching $51.9 billion, representing a 36% increase from 2023. In the first half of this year, the value of License-out deals by Chinese pharmaceutical companies has already exceeded $60.8 billion, surpassing the total for the entire previous year, and the annual growth rate is expected to reach a recent high. In terms of transaction structure, there has been a shift from traditional single-product licenses to platform-based authorizations, portfolio transactions, and deeper clinical collaborations, reflecting significant improvements in the pipeline structure, data quality, and overseas registration capabilities of Chinese innovative drugs.
Hengrui Pharmaceuticals continues to deepen its布局 in the BD (Business Development) sector. In 2023, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals reached an overseas licensing agreement with Coherus for the PD-L1/TGF-β bispecific antibody SHR-1701; in the same year, it licensed the TSLP monoclonal antibody HRS-1905 to Hercules under a NewCo model and completed the licensing of the EZH2 inhibitor SHR-2554 to Treeline. In 2024, the anti-cancer drug HRS-4725 was licensed to Radius Health, and the GLP-1 combination (including HRS-7535) was licensed to Hercules for a total of $6 billion plus a 19.9% equity stake. In 2025, the Lp(a) inhibitor HRS-5346 was licensed to Merck for $1.97 billion.
According to incomplete statistics, Hengrui's potential license-out amounts over the past two years have exceeded $10 billion, with collaborations spanning North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Partnerships have extended from regional biotech companies to multinational corporations (MNCs), and through equity ties, platform licensing, and multi-regional splits, a systematic path for product globalization has been established.
Regarding BD globalization, He Feng, Vice President of Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and CEO of Shanghai Hengrui, previously told Cailian Press that successful BD can share the risks of innovative projects with foreign companies, allowing the company to offset R&D costs through upfront payments and milestone revenues. On the other hand, through external collaborations, the company can learn advanced experiences from overseas enterprises, enhancing its own R&D capabilities. For example, when multinational pharmaceutical companies evaluate potential products, they ask multiple rounds of detailed and complex questions, ranging from discovery research, clinical studies, to process manufacturing, with the number of questions adding up to hundreds or even thousands. In the process of organizing thoughts and answering these questions, Chinese pharmaceutical companies can also gain insights into and learn from the understanding, control, and experience of multinational companies at each stage.
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Editor: Jayden
