The Golden Age of Chinese Biopharma Sector, 2014–2021: Explosive Growth in a Thriving Ecosystem

The Chinese biopharma sector has witnessed an unprecedented growth, referred to as the ‘Golden Age’. A combination of factors has nurtured this explosive domestic growth in the pharma and biotech space. With the largest population in the world and with little access to the latest innovative medicines, China provided huge market opportunities. Regulatory reforms made approval of new drugs much easier, which led to venture capitalists eying the Chinese biopharma sector as new growth sector. The government streamlined the clinical trial and drug approval process, including priority and special reviews as well as breakthrough therapy designations for innovative products that target unmet medical needs in China. The NRDL is also being updated more frequently and prioritizes the entry of newly approved novel drugs. Then there is also the huge number of hospitals which provide a massive set of potential patients to enroll into clinical trials. New capital sources became available, when in 2018 changes in policy allowed pre-revenue/pre-profit biotech companies to be listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) or Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Science and Technology Innovative Board (STAR). Combined together, all of these factors can be seen as the rocket booster for growth, which fueled the Golden Age of the Chinese biopharma sector.