China Approved 76 Innovative Drugs in 2025 — and Now Has 30% of the Global Pipeline

Germany-headquartered Merck will continue to deepen its presence in China's healthcare sector because the country's drug-development ecosystem is now faster, larger, and more innovative than anywhere else in the world outside the United States.

That is the headline from an exclusive 27 July 2026 interview with Andre Musto, managing director and general manager of Merck Healthcare China, in China Daily. The data behind his statement is striking:

  • China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved a record 76 innovative drugs in 2025, up from 48 in 2024 — the fastest pace of any major regulatory agency in the world
  • China accounted for approximately 30 percent of the global biopharma pipeline in 2025, up from just 2 percent a decade earlier (McKinsey)
  • Chinese companies move about 1.5 times faster than the global benchmark from target identification to clinical trials, with patient enrollment 2 to 5 times faster (McKinsey)
  • More than 150 outbound licensing deals involving Chinese innovative drugs were completed in 2025, with combined value exceeding $130 billion USD — both record highs

For an international cancer patient weighing options between China, Singapore, Korea, India, or a return home to a US/EU hospital system, this data changes the decision tree. China's biopharma boom is not a future promise — it is the operational reality of 2026.

Why "China Speed" Matters for Patients With Limited Standard-of-Care Options

The most important number for medical tourists is the 2-to-5-times faster patient enrollment statistic. For patients with advanced solid tumors or relapsed blood cancers who have exhausted standard lines of therapy, the bottleneck is rarely cost — it is access to a clinical trial that is still enrolling.

What the McKinsey 2026 numbers mean in practice

1.5×Faster from target to trial than global benchmark
2-5×Faster patient enrollment than global benchmark
76Innovative drugs approved by NMPA in 2025

For an international patient, this means a Chinese clinical-trial site can deliver a slot in months, not years — provided the patient fits the inclusion criteria and the trial is open to foreign enrollment. For most Chinese-developed CAR-T, bispecific antibody, and ADC programs, foreign enrollment is a standard feature, not an exception.

Musto called this "China speed" — the pace of development visible across the entire pharmaceutical value chain, from early-stage research and clinical development to regulatory approvals and commercialization. The $130 billion USD in outbound licensing deals during 2025 — Chinese biotechs selling development and commercialization rights to Western pharma companies — is the external market validation of that speed.

What the Pipeline Looks Like — And What This Means for Cancer Patients

The 30 percent pipeline share is not a count of mostly-me-too drugs. China is producing a disproportionate share of the most innovative oncology modalities globally:

ModalityWhy it mattersNotable Chinese assets
Solid-tumor CAR-THistorically considered impossible; first-ever solid-tumor CAR-T was NMPA-approved in June 2026 (satri-cel for Claudin18.2+ gastric/GEJ cancer)satricabtagene autoleucel (Carsgen, NMPA June 2026); Ori-C101 (Oricell, GPC3+ HCC); CT041 pipeline
Bispecific antibodies & TCEsNext-gen immunotherapy replacing some checkpoint-inhibitor use; high specificity, lower toxicity in many indicationsAkeso ivonescimab (PD-1/VEGF); Akeso AK138D1 (HER3 ADC); Hansoh HS-20089; Mabwell 6MW5311 (LILRB4/CD3 TCE)
ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates)Targeted chemotherapy with dramatically reduced systemic toxicity; 2026 is widely considered the "ADC year"Trastuzumab rezetecan (RemeGen); MRG003 (Lepu); multiple Phase 3 assets at BeiGene and Innovent
iPSC-derived cell therapiesAllogeneic off-the-shelf cell therapies for Parkinson's, diabetes, liver disease — Chinese programs are running first-in-human trials ahead of Western competitorsUniXell UX-DA003 (Parkinson's, FDA IND June 2026); Caulys/Carsgen iPSC-derived NK cells
Outbound-licensed assetsWestern pharma validating Chinese-discovered drugs for global commercializationAkeso→Summit (ivonescimab, $5B+ deal value); Antengene→UCB (ATG-201 bispecific); numerous BeiGene, Innovent, Hansoh deals

For an Indonesian, Vietnamese, or Kazakhstani cancer patient, this table is the answer to a question that US/EU hospitals often cannot solve: "Where do I find a clinical trial that is still open, has a slot I can reach, and treats my exact cancer subtype?" The answer in 2026 is increasingly Shanghai, Beijing, or Wuhan — not Houston, Boston, or London.

How an International Patient Accesses This Pipeline

There are two paths, and the cost difference is enormous. Both run through Chinese hospitals.

Path 1: Clinical-trial enrollment (most common for foreign patients)

  • Typically free to the patient — the drug sponsor covers drug cost, and the hospital bills standard-of-care items to insurance or out-of-pocket at Chinese rates
  • Foreign patients from most Asian, Middle East, and African countries can access clinical trials under standard NMPA approval — no special visa category needed, just a medical visa (M visa) and a hospital invitation letter
  • Common trial sponsors: Carsgen, Akeso, BeiGene, Innovent, Hansoh, RemeGen, Oricell, PersonGen, Antengene, the major public cancer centers
  • Typical enrollment-to-treatment timeline: 4-8 weeks from first contact, versus 3-12 months at most US academic centers
  • Where to start: Jiahui International Cancer Center (Shanghai, English-speaking trials), Fudan Shanghai Cancer Center, Peking University Cancer Hospital, West China Hospital (Sichuan), Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (Guangzhou)

Path 2: Commercial treatment (for NMPA-approved drugs like satri-cel)

  • $89,000-$151,000 USD for Chinese CAR-T (commercial NMPA-approved products) — versus $300,000-$500,000 in the US
  • $30,000-$80,000 USD for clinical-trial or compassionate-use programs — versus $100,000-$200,000 in the US
  • Most major cancer centers have international patient coordinators who handle M-visa invitation letters, translation, and discharge planning
  • See our solid-tumor CAR-T guide and CAR-T cost comparison for hospital-level detail

The "China speed" advantage is most visible in Path 1. A patient with relapsed Claudin18.2-positive gastric cancer who would face a 6-12 month wait for a CAR-T trial slot at MD Anderson or Memorial Sloan Kettering can typically enroll at a Shanghai cancer center within 4-8 weeks, often with the trial sponsor covering drug cost.

What China's Lead Does Not Yet Solve

To be direct about the limits of the China lead:

  • Not all clinical trials accept foreign patients. Most do, but some are China-domestic only by design. Always confirm with the trial coordinator before booking travel.
  • Companion diagnostics can be a bottleneck. Biomarker testing (PD-L1, Claudin18.2, GPC3, HER2-low, MSI-H, etc.) needs to be done at a CLIA-certified or Chinese CAP-equivalent lab. Most Chinese cancer centers have this in-house; foreign patients can also send a fresh biopsy from their home country for pathology review before travel.
  • Western oncologists may not recognize Chinese-developed drugs. If your home oncologist will be co-managing follow-up care, ask for a detailed discharge summary in English with drug names, dosing, and monitoring protocols. The cancer centers mentioned above all provide this as standard.
  • AI workflow tools are real, but uneven. Musto flagged AI and digitalization as a China lead, and it is — but the patient experience varies by hospital. Tier-1 cancer centers in Shanghai and Beijing have AI-augmented imaging, pathology, and clinical-trial matching. Provincial hospitals are catching up.

For most patients, the practical answer is to plan for 2-4 weeks in China (intake + treatment + early monitoring), then return home with a discharge summary and a follow-up plan that the home oncologist can execute.

What to Watch Over the Next 12-18 Months

The pipeline is not slowing down. Several signals to watch:

  1. More NMPA approvals of Chinese-developed bispecifics and ADCs. The first wave of Akeso ivonescimab indications, Hansoh HS-20089, and RemeGen disitamab vedotin expansions will land in 2026-2027.
  2. Outbound licensing deals crossing $200 billion in cumulative value. The 2025 number ($130B) was already a record. The pipeline of deals through 2027 suggests this trend will continue, which means more Western pharma validating Chinese assets.
  3. First FDA approvals of Chinese-developed oncology drugs. Several Chinese-discovered assets (Akeso ivonescimab via Summit, Hansoh HS-20089 via GSK, BeiGene tislelizumab) are in late-stage global trials. First FDA approvals could land in 2027-2028.
  4. Hainan Boao Lecheng access expansion. New cell and gene therapies approved under the Hainan pilot reach international patients 1-2 years ahead of national NMPA approval. Watch the Lecheng allowance list for additions.
  5. AI-augmented clinical-trial matching. Several Chinese hospitals are piloting AI tools that match an international patient's biomarker profile to open trials across all of China in under 10 minutes. This is real infrastructure, not marketing.

For an international cancer patient planning a medical trip in 2026 or 2027, none of these are abstract. They translate to faster trial access, more approved drug options, and meaningfully lower cost than the same trip would have cost two years ago.

How China Hospitals Guide Helps

China Hospitals Guide provides independent coordination for international patients seeking treatment at Chinese hospitals — including clinical-trial enrollment for CAR-T, bispecific antibodies, and ADCs, as well as full coordination for commercially approved therapies.

What we do:

  • Match you to clinical trials for your specific cancer subtype and biomarker profile
  • Pre-arrange English (or Bahasa Indonesia, Vietnamese, Russian, Arabic) translation
  • Coordinate M-visa invitation letters and arrival logistics
  • Coordinate pathology/biomarker review using your existing biopsy slides
  • Provide discharge summaries in English for your home oncologist to follow

Start a free case review — no commitment, no fee.

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