SNAPSHOT

Bristol Myers bets big on China’s Hengrui in a $15.2B drugmaking alliance

Bristol Myers Squibb and Hengrui Pharma announced a broad partnership covering up to 13 experimental medicines, including cancer, immunology and jointly discovered drug candidates.

Why it matters: The deal highlights how major Western drugmakers are increasingly relying on Chinese biotech firms for faster, lower-cost drug discovery and clinical development. It also deepens concerns in Washington and among U.S. biotech firms about China’s expanding role in the pharmaceutical supply chain and innovation ecosystem. This is in keeping with the fact that Bristol Myers Squibb will be Hengrui´s 5th international partnership since the start of 2025.

Backstory: Over the past several years, China’s biotech sector has rapidly matured thanks to heavy investment, flexible regulation and lower development costs. The boom has fueled a surge in licensing agreements between Chinese firms and U.S./European pharmaceutical companies. More than 60 such deals were signed in 2025 alone, with dozens more already announced in 2026.

Zoom in: The pact includes four Hengrui cancer drugs, four Bristol Myers immunology prospects and five new assets the companies will discover and develop together. Bristol Myers gets rights to Hengrui’s drugs outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Hengrui gets rights to Bristol Myers’ medicines in those territories and may co-develop and sell some assets with Bristol.

By the numbers: BMS will pay Hengrui $600 million upfront, another $175 million a year later and possibly a second $175 million payment in 2028. If all options and milestones are met, the deal could reach $15.2 billion.

What’s next: Hengrui will lead early clinical development on some programs to speed proof-of-concept testing. The companies have not disclosed which specific drugs are included.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

🔥 Inflammation hunt: Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a deal worth up to €407.5 million ($478 million) for global rights to a preclinical antibody from Immunitas Therapeutics targeting chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although the drug’s exact target was not disclosed, it is designed to selectively eliminate immune cells that drive chronic inflammation, offering an alternative to therapies that block individual inflammatory pathways. Immunitas, backed by investors including Novartis and Bayer venture arms, previously focused on anti-CD161 antibodies for cancer and has explored their use in autoimmune diseases.

📉 Trial humbling: AstraZeneca revealed detailed phase 3 results for eneboparatide, its $800 million chronic hypoparathyroidism drug candidate acquired through Amolyt Pharma, showing the therapy met its primary endpoint but underperformed compared to Ascendis Pharma’s Yorvipath. In the Calypso trial, 31.1% of patients receiving eneboparatide achieved the composite response endpoint at Week 24 versus 5.9% on placebo, while Yorvipath previously reported response rates near 79%. AstraZeneca said widespread immunogenicity reduced treatment effects in some patients, with antidrug antibodies emerging as a key challenge. Despite the lower response rate, AstraZeneca highlighted stable serum calcium levels and preserved bone health over 52 weeks as potential differentiators for the therapy.

🌬️ Mucus breakthrough: Enterprise Therapeutics reported positive phase 2 results for its inhaled ENaC inhibitor ETD001 in cystic fibrosis, achieving a statistically significant 3.4-percentage-point improvement in lung function compared to placebo over 28 days. The therapy targets the roughly 10% of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who are not eligible for CFTR modulators such as Vertex’s drugs, offering a potential disease-modifying option for an underserved population. The success is notable because several large drugmakers, including Vertex, Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, and Novartis, previously struggled or abandoned ENaC inhibitor programs after disappointing clinical results. Enterprise attributes its progress to ETD001’s airway retention and prolonged mucus-clearing effects, and plans further dose-ranging studies, combination trials with CFTR modulators, and expansion into non-CF bronchiectasis.

👅 Therapeutic taste: EktaH reported early clinical data supporting its first-in-class obesity treatment approach based on restoring fat taste receptor function, with plans to enter Phase 2 trials in the first half of next year. The French biotech’s oral candidates, NKS-3 and NKS-5, target CD36 and GPR120 receptors, which research suggests are downregulated in many people with obesity, potentially contributing to increased fat intake. In an ongoing early-stage trial involving 18 participants, NKS-5 produced an average 4.3% reduction in fat mass over four weeks while slightly increasing skeletal muscle mass, contrasting with fat mass gains in placebo or nonresponsive participants. EktaH believes its approach could differentiate itself from GLP-1 drugs by preserving muscle, avoiding gastrointestinal side effects, and potentially helping maintain weight loss after GLP-1 therapy.

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