中国生物制药格局：新资产诞生之地（英）2026

EMERGING TECH RESEARCH Institutional Research Group The Chinese BiopharmaLandscape: Where New Ben ZercherSenior Research Analyst,Biotech & Pharma pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com Published on January 23, 2026 Understanding Chinese progress and how 2026 could Contents PitchBook is a Morningstar company providing the most comprehensive, mostaccurate, and hard-to-find data for professionals doing business in the private markets. Key takeaways Internal dynamics of China’sbiopharma landscape Global engagement with China:Cross-border trends Key takeaways Looking ahead to 2026: Risks, opportunities,and geopolitical trajectories •China’s biopharma sector is entering a more mature phase characterizedby increasing self-sufficiency, as domestic funding, in-house capabilities,and internally generated innovation increasingly support development and Conclusion: China’s early-stageadvantage persists •As evidenced by the recent influx of Big Pharma licensing deals, China has gainedthe lead in early-stage asset generation. This advantage will likely persist as early- •China’s outlicensing market will likely remain active in 2026, with deal flowbroadening beyond oncology antibodies and into obesity programs, CGT, and •Well-capitalized private Chinese biopharma startups continue to emerge with high- •Nondomestic VC has meaningfully pulled back from Chinese biopharma, butincreased domestic funding—both public and private—has reinforced a shift toward •Licensing, company formation, and embedded R&D operations increasinglyreflect bidirectional integration with global biopharma that is threatened by •US restrictions such as the BIOSECURE Act are more likely to disrupt US biopharmainnovation by constraining access to cost-efficient development, manufacturing,and increasingly reliable regulatory infrastructure than meaningfully slow Internal dynamics of China’s biopharma landscape Public policy as a catalyst for innovation China's biopharmasector has reshapeditself around next-generation therapeutics China’s biopharma ecosystem is increasingly defined by its growing role as aglobal engine for early-stage asset generation. Long viewed primarily as a genericspowerhouse, China’s biopharma sector has reshaped itself around next-generationtherapeutics paired with efficient clinical-trial infrastructure to de-risk these assets. The roots of this transformation trace back to the 1980s, when Project 863, a nationalresearch & development (R&D) initiative, sought to accelerate China’s capabilitiesin strategically important areas such as biotechnology.1Project 863 focused on China’s progress is not only in foundational research but also in the clinical-trialinfrastructure that validates it. China has adopted international standards to legitimizeits clinical-trial infrastructure while simultaneously advancing national initiatives toexpedite studies by opening new trial sites and creating new review processes.3These In recent years, bispecific and multispecific antibodies, which can sim ultaneouslybind two or more biological targets to increase selectivity for diseased cells orblock multiple disease pathways, have emerged as an exciting therapeutic optionin oncology and immunology. Similarly, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) exploittargeted antibody binding to deliver a conjugated drug payload to diseased cells whileminimizing systemic exposure. A recent Nature Reviews Drug Discovery analysis regulatory infrastructure. Growing capabilities across vector design, cell engineering,manufacturing, and regulatory execution are coalescing into a reusable CGT tool kit China is emerging as a global leader in AI-driven drug discovery, building on itsstrengths in next-generation biomolecules and CGT. Fueling this momentum areadvances in foundational AI models such as DeepSeek, which are increasingly oriented toward biological and drug-discovery use cases. Patent activity reflects thiseffort, with Chinese entities filing roughly six times as many generative AI patentsas US entities from 2014 to 2023, with more than 1,000 focused on drug discovery in Private capital trends: More insulated, more innovative VC funding in China has mirrored broader sector trends: A surge in 2021, fueled bycapital misallocations, was followed by a sharp contraction. 2024 appears to mark the investment trough, with 2025 data through early Decemberindicating a modest rebound as deal value and deal count match or exceed the prioryear’s totals. While overall funding remains subdued, this pattern aligns with global As aggregate Chinese biopharma VC funding has declined, its composition has shiftedmeaningfully. After rising participation from 2018 to 2020, international investorshave sharply retreated, likely driven by a combination of geopolitical caution and ashift toward high-yield, short-cycle opportunities in AI. This reweighting in domestic Another defining shift in the Chinese biopharma venture landscape is the pivot towardnext-generatio