In new data from Chinese developers at ESMO, Kelun/Merck’s Trop2-targeting ADC SKB264 (MK-2870) appears ready to hog the limelight from Daiichi Sankyo/AstraZeneca’s Dato-DXd, while Hansoh’s B7-H4-targeting HS-20089 is coming to the fore against its global same-class competitors. There were also new clinical results for Mabwell/Hengrui’s Nectin-4-targeting 9MW2821 and HER2-targeting SHR-A1811.

At least one major Chinese supplier is being tapped to relieve a shortage of certain drugs in the US despite rising Beijing-Washington tensions, but China may be increasingly unwilling to co-operate amid its own shifting economic priorities, increasingly introspective policies and some shortages of its own. 

In the Chinese pharmaceutical market, sales of anti-tumor drugs have been showing a steady growth trend in recent years as cancer patient numbers continue to rise.

China continues to dominate the latest list of global billionaires and top execs from domestic pharma firms Hengrui and Hansoh ranked among the wealthiest overall in the country, along with the founder of vaccine maker Zhifei Bio. A number of top Chinese biopharma business executives also featured in the global top 100 billionaires list.