GSK, Hengrui deal for $500M up front latest sign of sea change in cross-border tie-ups

Sunday’s deal between GSK and Hengrui for up to 12 assets is one of the clearest signs yet that cross-border, East-West deals have been undergoing a foundational shift.

Compared with Western companies, China’s biopharmas are generating clinical data more quickly and have a broader selection of pipeline assets available for licensing. Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:600276; HKEX:1276), a company that has long harbored global ambitions, has positioned itself in the thick of the action, out-licensing programs and creating start-ups with Western partners via the NewCo Model. ...