Companies from China single-handedly sponsored a total of eight Phase III clinical studies that included US sites in 2023 compared to six in 2022 - but the figure was still below the record of 11 in 2021.

The 19 breakthrough therapy designations awarded so far this year run the gamut from areas that traditionally have not fared well with BTDs, like cardiovascular and respiratory disease, alongside the traditional cancer and orphan disease tentpoles.

Promising early clinical trial results from Rocket and Abbisko respectively helped the companies secure their places on the European Medicines Agency’s priority medicines scheme, which aims to help speed up the development and regulatory review of treatments for unmet medical needs.

Against the prevailing headwinds in the biotech sector, two Chinese firms are bucking the trend of pipeline reorganization by eyeing the potential acquisition of assets from external partners to expand into more modalities and therapeutic areas.