Why 'Big Pharma' will be the next China trade war battleground
- House of Representatives passes biosecurity bill
- GSK and AstraZeneca pursue China expansion
Earlier this month, authorities in China arrested five AstraZeneca (AZN) employees as part of an investigation into data privacy violations and imports of unlicensed medications.
The group acknowledged the arrests in a statement, but declined to offer any further information. While there’s no indication the legal action could impact sales, investors are bound to view these developments as evidence of escalating tensions between western drugmakers and the Chinese state.
This month, US legislators also backed a bill that limits American companies from doing business with Chinese Communist Party-owned entities, which can be key links in the supply chain.
Until recently, the pharmaceutical industry remained relatively insulated from the simmering trade war between China and the US. According to the Atlantic Council, a think tank, US imports of China-made medicines grew nearly 500 per cent – from $2.1bn (£1.6bn) to $10.3bn – between 2020 and 2022. The same can’t be said for tariff-hit electric vehicles or aerospace components.
However, suspicion is growing on the part of the US and its European allies, and measures to reduce or restrict Chinese pharmaceutical imports are gaining momentum. Whether this will ultimately hobble collaboration and innovation is an important question, particularly for AstraZeneca.
R&D advantages
China is increasingly important to the pharma giant – and not just because of its sizeable consumer market. “We also intend to leverage our Chinese presence for cell therapy,” chief executive Pascal Soriot told analysts at a May investor day. “In the early phase of clinical development, you can move much faster than anywhere else in the world.” The country’s government began reforming its drug approvals process in 2015, with the aim of fast-tracking the development of innovative medicines.
Western pharmaceutical groups have taken note of the country’s supportive regulatory regime and moved to acquire smaller biotech companies with promising pipelines. Early this year, AstraZeneca completed its $1.2bn buyout of Shanghai-based Gracell Biotechnologies, a developer of cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Switzerland’s Novartis (CH:NOVN) picked up kidney disease specialist SanReno, also based in Shanghai, at around the same time.
However, both companies have also had to take steps to safeguard their China operations from the impact of ongoing trade tensions with the US. Soriot told journalists on the sidelines of AstraZeneca’s investor day that the firm was taking steps to build a China-only supply chain to get ahead of any future disruptions. Meanwhile, Novartis has been reviewing its relationships with China-based manufacturing and contract research partners in case US lawmakers bar them from working together.
Biosecurity concerns
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the so-called Biosecure Act by 306 to 81 votes. The bill effectively prohibits US federal agencies from ordering products with “biotechnology companies of concern” in the supply chain – meaning those deemed to pose a threat to national security. Five firms with alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party, including widely-used manufacturer WuXi AppTec, have been named in the bill, which would need to pass in the Senate to become law.
It has also been reported that weight-loss drugmaker Eli Lilly (US:LLY) is seeking alternative suppliers in case its China operations are stalled. The company, along with many other US and EU drugmakers, relies on WuXi to make key ingredients for its products.
Despite this hawkish turn, it appears China is still keen to license and distribute innovative drugs made by European companies. GSK (GSK) announced last week that the country’s Centre for Drug Evaluation had granted breakthrough therapy status to Blenrep and BorDex, a combination designed to target drug-resistant blood cancer. This means the medicines will enjoy an expedited approval process because studies have shown they may be more effective than available alternatives.
GSK’s presence in China is much smaller than AstraZeneca’s – largely because a court found its sales staff had been bribing doctors to prescribe its medicines in 2014. The scandal resulted in a fine of £300mn and a prison sentence for the firm’s former head of Chinese operations. However, relations have improved in recent years, with the company inking a $3bn deal with domestic biotech Zhifei for distribution of its shingles vaccine in late 2023. It seems legal issues and import restrictions may not fully restrict the global trade in medical innovations.