China's just-concluded National Congress elected new senior government leadership, but shifting top-level policy priorities and a worsening wider operating environment mean observers are worried about continued growth and ongoing pressures on drug pricing.

The US firm is shifting its focus to IgAN after a promising new prespecified analysis of its Phase II trial of atacicept lifted hopes for the product’s prospects as compared with a key rival candidate.

From 2013 to November 2022, Chinese pharma companies as a single sponsor started a total of 35 international Phase III clinical studies for innovative drugs in the US, indicating a continuing push by the biopharma sector in the country to leverage increasing innovation to access this huge and lucrative market. Led by BeiGene, 20 firms have placed their bets on such studies and some are planning similar new moves despite an ongoing downturn in industry funding, this infographic analysis shows.

The US biotech’s dual cytokine inhibitor has hit significance in a mid-stage trial with plans underway for a Phase III study, but concerns about its lacklustre efficacy when compared with a rival candidate from Chinook have taken the wind out of its sails.