Pharma giant Novo licenses Chinese weight-loss drug

Novo’s agreement with Hengrui Pharma, which struck an even bigger deal with GSK last year, highlights the rapid advances in China’s cutting-edge biotech sector. Danish pharma giant Novo licensed a weight-loss treatment developed by a Chinese firm, highlighting advances in China’s increasingly cutting-edge biotech sector. The firm behind the treatment, Hengrui Pharma, last year reached an even bigger agreement with GSK for the development of new drugs across multiple areas, including cancer; Novo has also previously signed a deal with another Chinese company for a different weight-loss drug. The agreements cement a remarkable transformation: “ Within living memory, China sent barefoot doctors into the countryside with herbal remedies and antibiotics in army-green satchels,” Kaiser Kuo of the Sinica Podcast noted, whereas AstraZeneca’s chief financial officer recently told Semafor that it is now “ only a question of time ” before Chinese pharma companies challenge global firms.