LaNova’s Crystal Qin wins woman leadership prize as dealmakers shape BayHelix awards
3SBio, Biotheus take top deal categories
From Woman Leader of the Year to top R&D Achievement, dealmaking left its mark on nearly every category of the annual BayHelix Awards.
It’s hardly a surprise that dealmaking in China has shaped this year’s cohort of winners selected by the non-profit cross-border professional group, as announced at the 12th BioCentury-BayHelix China Healthcare Summit in Shanghai. Cross-border deals have been a bright spot in 2025, as the maturation of biotech in China converges with Western demand for innovative assets.
Two deals by Shanghai’s LaNova Medicines Ltd. landed its founder and CEO, Crystal Qin, the Woman Leader award.
In a deal nearly $1 billion in size, LaNova was acquired by Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. (HKEX:1177) in a seldom-seen move: a domestic pharma acquiring a homegrown innovator in China’s maturing biotech ecosystem. The $950.9 million deal gave Sino Biopharma ownership of eight clinical programs, including a bispecific PD-1 x VEGF inhibitor that Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) acquired rights to last November for $588 million up front.
The top licensing deal went to 3SBio Inc. (HKEX:1530) for completing the biggest licensing agreement yet for a China asset, through a transaction with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE). The deal, which came with a $1.25 billion up front for a PD-1 x VEGF bispecific with broad potential in oncology, highlighted the growing global impact of Chinese biotech while setting a new benchmark for cross-border collaboration.
According to BioCentury’s BCIQ database, the upfront payment surpassed the $800 million paid in 2023 by Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) to SystImmune Inc. in what remains a landmark cross-border partnership involving an antibody-drug conjugate.
A PD-L1 x VEGF inhibitor also featured in this year’s M&A award, which went to Shanghai-based Biotheus Inc. for its acquisition by partner BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) for $800 million up front. The deal gave the European company full global rights to BNT327 as well as a pipeline and platform to generate more bispecifics efficiently.
Hopes run high across the industry that dual targeting of PD-1 or PD-L1 and VEGF can out-compete established blockbuster Keytruda pembrolizumab.
Start-ups Syneron Technology Co. Ltd. and Earendil Labs shared the prize for R&D Achievement, winning the award within three years of their founding date. Indeed, Earendil’s partnership with Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NASDAQ:SNY) to advance bispecific antibodies for autoimmune and inflammatory bowel diseases came five months after its launch.
Syneron Bio partnered with AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN) in March to develop macrocyclic peptide therapeutics for chronic diseases. The deals are the epitome of “China speed” and underscore its biotech sector’s place at the forefront of AI-driven drug discovery and development.
Ascentage Pharma Group International Inc. (HKEX:6855; NASDAQ:AAPG) won Commercial Achievement of the Year. The Suzhou company’s olverembatinib demonstrated strong sales growth and broad hospital access, while its lisaftoclax became the first BCL-2 inhibitor approved in China for chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.