Just two months into 2026, the pharmaceutical industry has already witnessed a surge in collaborations between Chinese and multinational pharmaceutical companies. Overall, these collaborations have evolved from single product licensing to full-industry chain, long-term strategic ecosystem binding. Meanwhile, cooperation is not limited to the R&D stage, but has also extended to production and other aspects, showing a diversified development trend.
On February 8th, Innovent Biologics announced that it had reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Eli Lilly on the research and development of innovative drugs. The two parties will jointly promote the global research and development of innovative drugs in the fields of oncology and immunology. According to the terms of the agreement, Innovent Biologics will directly receive an initial payment of US$350 million. In addition, based on the achievement of multiple milestones in research and development, regulation, and commercialization, Innovent Biologics is eligible to receive milestone payments totaling approximately US$8.5 billion, as well as receive tiered sales royalties for related products in markets outside Greater China.
It is noteworthy that this strategic cooperation marks the seventh collaboration between Innovent and Eli Lilly. As early as 2015, the two parties signed a milestone agreement regarding PD-1 monoclonal antibodies and multiple tumor antibody drugs. Through multiple collaborations, the two parties have established a stable and efficient collaboration mechanism in project screening, decision-making pace, and global clinical advancement.
On February 5th, Fosun Pharma announced that its holding subsidiary, Henlius, had signed a "License Agreement" with Eisai. Henlius granted Eisai the rights to develop, produce, and commercialize the Soolu单抗 injection for the treatment of oncology indications in the Japanese region.
The agreement indicates that Eisai will pay Henlius a non-refundable initial payment of up to $155 million, consisting of a $75 million upfront payment and regulatory milestone payments of up to $80.01 million. Additionally, Eisai will also pay sales milestone payments of up to $233 million.
On February 3rd, Zhongsheng QuanTai announced that it had reached a global research and development cooperation and licensing agreement with Eli Lilly to jointly advance the development of novel peptide drug candidates. This marks another significant international breakthrough achieved by the company in a short period of time, following the global licensing agreement it reached with Novartis in January this year.
According to the agreement, Zhongsheng QuanTai will be responsible for screening and determining the optimal peptide active molecules for the collaborative project based on its own platform, and will receive the initial payment and other recent payments, as well as have the right to collect subsequent milestone payments for development, supervision, and sales. Eli Lilly will be responsible for the subsequent IND application research, clinical development, and commercialization of the drug.
On February 2nd, Shengyin Biotech announced a global research and development cooperation and licensing agreement with Genentech (a subsidiary of Roche Group). The two parties will jointly advance the development of an RNAi therapy based on Shengyin Biotech's proprietary RNAi drug research and development platform. According to the terms of the agreement, Shengyin Biotech will receive an initial payment of $200 million and have the right to receive development and sales milestone payments totaling $1.5 billion, as well as tiered royalties.
The agreement indicates that Synbiotics will grant Genentech the exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize the drug. Synbiotics will be responsible for the early research and development of the drug, while Genentech will handle all subsequent clinical development and commercialization activities. It is reported that this is another licensing cooperation that Synbiotics has reached in the past three months. On November 8, 2025, Synbiotics announced a global research and development cooperation and licensing agreement worth up to $1.5 billion with Eli Lilly and Company. The two parties will jointly promote the development of RNAi drug candidates for metabolic diseases based on Synbiotics' proprietary LEAD™ platform.
Overall, the surge in collaborations at the beginning of 2026 reflects that China's pharmaceutical innovation has entered a phase of global value realization, with the value of technology platforms gaining international recognition and the cooperation model shifting from passive licensing to active co-construction. For Chinese pharmaceutical companies, it is imperative to continue enhancing technological originality, deepening international cooperation, and accelerating the strategic upgrade from "Chinese innovation" to "global innovation". Only in this way can they further enhance their market competitiveness and promote the accelerated transformation towards high-quality development of China's pharmaceutical industry.