With gene editing making the news again after the recent Nobel Prize for CRISPR, China’s EdiGene has been raising new funds to accelerate its pipeline to the clinic, led by a potential one-time cure for thalassemia and helped by recent regulatory changes.

Frank Zhang, co-founder and chair of the Hong Kong-listed Chinese biotech Genscript, parent of Nasdaq-listed cell therapy star, Legend Biotech, has been detained by Chinese authorities, along with four employees.

Just three years after its founding, Chinese cell therapy developer IASO Bio already has two assets in clinical development and the Nanjing firm has recently attracted $60m in financing. In an exclusive interview, its R&D head told Scrip that speed and partnerships are propelling Chinese developers on a trajectory to quickly catch up with the west in the emerging cell-therapy arena.

From cell therapy to digital health, from fast follower to innovator, China continues to gain traction with global health companies, underscored by its early emergence from the global pandemic and focus on certain technologies, with Boehringer Ingelheim the latest to be attracted.