The latest development over the licensing arrangement for the anticancer drug may deal a further blow to BeiGene’s oncology commercial efforts in China.

China’s booming biotech sector shows no signs of slowing and is spurring many contract clinical and manufacturing service providers to double their bets in a market that remains largely untapped for innovative biologics. But whether the boom will turn to a bubble remains to be seen.

Plus deals involving Biosplice/Haisco, SciClone/Tarveda, Everest/Sinovent/SinoMab, Kyowa Kirin/AM-Pharma, Sandoz/Bio-Thera, Dr. Reddy’s/Citius, Jiangsu Hengrui/Mabworks, GeneQuantum/BrightGene, Innovent/GenFleet and Takeda/Mirum.

Already priced domestically at a deep discount to counterpart PD-1s in the US, Beigene's tislelizumab could potentially get the first global approval for a China-originated drug in this class, as the immuno-oncology sector as a whole continues to come under pressure in China.