China’s Biotech Boom is a Warning for America. What Will Policymakers Do?

A Hong Kong-based healthcare expert recently warned that China's biotechnology sector has achieved such rapid advancement and cost advantages that it may fundamentally reshape the global pharmaceutical landscape and potentially displace the United States as the world’s innovator of new cures.

Cui Cui, managing director and head of Asia healthcare research at Jefferies, recently spoke to Endpoints News about the dramatic transformation of China’s life sciences sector and the competitive challenges this poses to U.S. life sciences leadership.

"I would say that starting from 2018, a lot of changes [occurred]," Cui said, noting how a combination of accelerated clinical development timelines, aggressive pricing, and an increasingly sophisticated research ecosystem have made China an increasingly attractive place to pursue new cures.

This has created a major opening for Chinese biotech companies, which have shown they can develop new drugs at a fraction of the cost elsewhere.

Chinese companies now account for 32% of global business development deal value in 2024 – up from just 21% in 2023 and single digits in prior years. Other elements of China’s booming biotech sector are even more apparent. In recent years, China has also surpassed the U.S. in terms of new drug approvals and clinical trials registered.

Another reason China is seen as an attractive place for drug development: the policy environment in the United States.  

“They [pharmaceutical companies] are facing increased pressure to lower down drug prices in the U.S,” Cui told Endpoints News. “It has become one of the top priorities for the U.S. government.”

These developments should serve as a warning for U.S. policymakers.

America cannot afford to be complacent in the face of China's biotech ascendancy. For decades, U.S. innovation in the life sciences has driven medical breakthroughs that have benefitted millions around the world while supporting high-skilled jobs at home.

But continued American leadership in this sector is not guaranteed.

Policymakers must recognize China's advantages are real, the result of coordinated government support, regulatory reforms, and strategic investments designed to dominate this critical sector.

To maintain America's competitive edge, we need policies that support domestic innovation, streamline regulatory pathways without compromising safety, and ensure our biotech ecosystem remains the most attractive destination for global talent and capital.

China’s biotech sector will continue to grow. The question is whether U.S. policymakers will take the necessary steps to ensure American innovation continues leading the world in developing the cures of tomorrow.