BIG PHARMA IS TURNING TO CHINA FOR THE NEWEST DRUG IDEAS

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Big drug makers and investors are spending billions to lock up rights to promising Chinese-originated drug candidates. Western and Japanese drug makers made 70 transactions with Chinese biotechs last year, paying nearly $5.6 billion upfront to get rights to promising molecules. The shift has stirred up national security concerns in the US. Lawmakers and government officials warn that the US could lose a large source of employment and become dangerously dependent on China's supply of medicines if drug innovation were to shift to China.