2016 was again another busy year on the commercial front in China, with market changes, new regulations, and ongoing pricing pressures all affecting the pharma sector. Meanwhile, the push for licensing deals, innovation, and international expansion continued apace.

Ambitious and confident Chinese pharmaceutical buyers have begun to enter a new brave world of foreign M&A. However, this scenario can be littered with internal challenges and increasingly external scrutiny, less solid pre-deal asset identification and poor post-deal execution, all of which can damage their barely gained credibility, creating hurdles for future deals.

China’s Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine is accelerating its move towards innovation by increasing investment and partnerships, as part of a strategy to shift its focus away from its traditional generic business. It is now providing substantial funding to a new US-based spinoff aiming to develop oncology biologics and immunotherapies and to act as an innovation bridge between the US and China.