The annual reimbursement price negotiations between pharma firms and China’s National Healthcare Security Administration are just around the corner. While some have chosen to walk away from the process completely, others including majors BeiGene and Hengrui are girding up for another round of potentially deep cuts.

Much of the biopharma and other health-related industries in China were already feeling the chill from ongoing macro-economic and other headwinds this year, which now look set to be complicated further by the added strain of social unrest over strict COVID containment policies. The combination of factors is already prompting some to take steps towards restructuring and divestments to survive.

After inking major deals with AbbVie and AstraZeneca, China-US company Harbour BioMed recently shifted strategy, divesting its site in Suzhou to WuXi in a bid to be “more focused, efficient and nimble” and emerge stronger post-pandemic, says founder, chairman and CEO Jingsong Wang in an exclusive interview.

The Biden Administration’s latest Executive Order is aimed at shoring up investment in the US and securing supply chains for pharma and biotech products and is already impacting China's CDMO sector, but the long-term impact may be more nuanced, experts predict.