2019 was the year that China approved the first new drug for Alzheimer's in nearly two decades and for the first US approval of an original cancer drug from China. While the simmering US trade war has been addressed by a phase one agreement to be signed, other uncertainties marked a year dominated by a large vaccine scandal and resulting bankruptcy, and increasing calls to include China in global clinical development plans.

Approval of China's first rituximab biosimilar under new pathway gives developers much-needed boost and an opening to the international market for made-in-China biosimilars helped by favorable regulatory policy changes at home.

Among the newer modalities to tackle cancer, antibody-drug conjugates are fast emerging to rival targeted antibodies and China is fast emerging as a world class source of innovation in the field, as evidenced by a string of recent deals.