Several high-value BD cases in 2025 have sparked strong interest in the Chinese biopharmaceutical sector from the capital market. China has become a major force in global BD output, thus examining the licensing pipelines of domestic biopharmaceutical companies can roughly analyze the direction of global pharmaceutical innovation.
In the first half of this year, ADC remains the hottest topic for Chinese innovative drugs going abroad, with 9 BD transactions completed, totaling $17.272 billion.
As of the end of May this year, the global transaction amount for ADCs has risen to $18.893 billion, surpassing the total of $14.493 billion for the entire year of 2024. Against the backdrop of significant transactions in bispecific antibodies, GLP-1, and small nucleic acids, ADCs continue to be a key product for Chinese biopharmaceutical companies going global.
Correspondingly, the demand for ADC CDMO services is also on the rise. For example, in the first half of this year, WuXi AppTec and its partners reached 225 projects from preclinical to commercialization, with 37 new iCMC projects signed in the first half of 2025, setting a historical high, with revenue increasing by 62.2% compared to the same period last year, reaching 2.7 billion yuan.
On September 24, WuXi AppTec’s new production facility in Singapore officially opened, marking the first time ADC production capacity has been extended overseas. WuXi AppTec CEO Li Jincai stated in a media interview, “In the coming years, there will be more ADC drugs launched in China. Chinese companies have a very keen sense, and we should continue to see more ADCs going abroad.”
China’s ADC “Overtaking in a Curve”
“If we look vertically at the entire trend of drug development, over the decades, drug research and development has been moving from single targets and single mechanisms to complex biopharmaceuticals, such as cocktail therapies. The emergence of ADCs perfectly aligns with the trend of drug development,” Li Jincai, CEO of WuXi AppTec, analyzed the explosive growth of ADCs in recent years.
2019 was a pivotal year for ADCs, as AstraZeneca’s super star drug, trastuzumab deruxtecan, was approved in the United States, igniting industry interest in ADCs. HER2 ADCs subsequently became the hottest track in similar drug development. In the following years, major players invested heavily in the ADC track, with Gilead acquiring antibody drug company Immunomedics for $21 billion and Pfizer acquiring ADC star company Seagen for $43 billion… each of these events made a significant impact in the industry. The ADC track became extremely popular.
The popularity of ADCs is also due to the participation of Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies. According to the insight database, as of last May, the development of domestic ADC new drugs reached over 500, accounting for more than 40% of the global pipeline.
Li Jincai analyzed that the reason why China’s ADC research and development can occupy a very core position globally is partly due to the long-established advantages in chemistry within the country, which is a critical aspect of ADC development; on the other hand, it is because of the rapid clinical pipeline and clinical speed in the country.
Through significant investment, Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies have indeed secured an important position for domestic ADC drugs in the global pharmaceutical market. Li Jincai observed that in recent years, there has been a significant change in multinational pharmaceutical companies’ acquisition of pipelines, increasingly shifting from late-stage clinical products to early-stage clinical and even preclinical products.
Late-stage clinical products represent certainty, allowing for the quickest results. Early-stage clinical products focus on possibilities, enabling earlier acquisitions, allowing multinational pharmaceutical companies to secure relatively lower prices and gain a time advantage over potential competitors. Therefore, in recent ADC transactions, multinational pharmaceutical companies are clearly more inclined towards cutting-edge, advanced research progress, and are beginning to pay attention to some nichetargets. This represents multinational pharmaceutical companies’ recognition of the strength of Chinese innovative drugs.
At the beginning of this year, in contrast to the previously popular targets like TROP2, Roche acquired a DLL3-targeted ADC (IBI3009) from Innovent Biologics. Innovent disclosed that IBI3009 is one of the potentially best-in-class and developmentally advanced DLL3-targeted ADCs, which has received clinical approval in China, the United States, and Australia.
In September, Chinese innovative pharmaceutical company Keyi Pharmaceuticals granted overseas rights for an EGFR/c-MET-targeted nano-bispecific ADC to American Radiance Biopharma, with a transaction amount exceeding $1.1 billion. This drug is currently in phase 1 clinical trials.
“This trend will continue,” Li Jincai stated, “Chinese companies going abroad still need to firmly grasp the needs of overseas companies, especially multinational pharmaceutical companies, and their future development directions.”
ADC Research and Development: Not Just Competition
But a Flourishing Landscape
ADC currently maintains a good level of prosperity, but does developing ADCs guarantee good returns?
Not everyone swimming in the sea of drugs can successfully reach the shore. There have been many failures. In 2024, Gilead’s acquisition of TROP2 ADC faced setbacks in urothelial carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer; HER3 ADC and Claudin18.2 ADC have become “disaster zones” for failures, including products from several Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies, such as Yilian Biologics’ HER3 ADC, which was required by the FDA to suspend phase 1 clinical trials due to safety risks; products from Shiyao Group, Kelun Biotech, and Lixin Pharmaceuticals’ Claudin18.2 ADC have all faced returns of rights from overseas partners.
The phenomenon of clustering in China’s ADC research and development, especially around popular targets like HER2 and TROP2, has raised concerns. Data shows that HER2, TROP2, FRĪ±, B7-H3, and Claudin-18.2 account for the vast majority of ADC clinical projects in China. China holds over 70% of the global HER2 ADC pipeline, with more than 10 TROP2 ADCs already on the market or in clinical stages. This has caused significant concern in the industry, as Li Jin, director of Shanghai Gaobo Tumor Hospital, has commented: ADCs targeting HER2 “should not be developed anymore.”
However, it must be acknowledged that drug innovation emerges gradually from such wild growth. Bai Li Tianheng’s bispecific ADC drug BL-B01D1 achieved an astonishing licensing amount of $8.4 billion, and Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies like Kangzhe Pharmaceutical and Innovent Biologics are also engaged in the development of dual toxin and dual-target ADCs. At this year’s AACR conference, companies like Baiaosaitu and Chuangsheng Group showcased ADC research pipelines around new targets such as CDH17 and FGFR.
Li Jincai pointed out that overseas, there are more innovative payloads and new developments, which naturally carry greater research risks. Many ADC innovations in China are mainly combinatorial and engineering innovations, including the currently emerging bispecific ADCs and dual payload ADCs.
“But there is still much that can be done. Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies can quickly establish their advantages,” Li Jincai stated.
From September 24-26 this year, WuXi AppTec will open its Singapore production facility for public visits and will hold the “2025 BPD Biopharmaceutical Process Development Conference” in Singapore. The opening of the WuXi AppTec Singapore facility, completed at the end of June this year, aims to attract more global conjugated drug companies to gather and promote the research and innovation of conjugated drugs.
The future of ADCs in China is unpredictable, but one thing remains unchanged: the future of innovative drugs has never relied on a momentary explosion, but rather on a long-term commitment and sustained effort. The ADC research and development of Daiichi Sankyo has undergone over 40 years of iteration to create a unique technology platform that has incubated trastuzumab deruxtecan. In the future, this magical bullet of ADCs will surely continue to soar. In the tide of ADCs, whether Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies become gravel or gold in the big wave remains to be seen. The final results will take time to reveal.
Written by Yang Xixia
Edited by Jiang Yun and Jia Ting
Operations by Li Muzi
Illustrations by Visual China
Disclaimer: This is original content from Jian Shi Ju, please do not reproduce without permission.
Gan Li Pharmaceutical Expands to Brazil! Wins a 3 Billion Order Over Ten Years
The eleventh batch of centralized procurement will open bidding; will the “anti-involution” rules designed by the National Medical Insurance Bureau be effective?
Innovent Biologics’ Masitide has been approved for a new indication in China
