China’s biotech surge sparks US security concerns as drug trials break records in 2025
Clinical drug trial registrations in China hit a record last year, the country’s drug regulator said, with more than 5,000 trials reported in the latest sign of the nation’s growing pipeline of novel drug candidates. The total number of clinical drug trials reached 5,215 in 2025, more than double th
By Julie Zhang
Clinical drug trial registrations in China hit a record last year, the country’s drug regulator said, with more than 5,000 trials reported in the latest sign of the nation’s growing pipeline of novel drug candidates.
The total number of clinical drug trials reached 5,215 in 2025, more than double the figure recorded in 2020, according to a report released by the National Medical Products Administration on Monday.
Of those, 57.5 per cent were trials for new drugs, an 18 per cent year-on-year increase, while the remainder were bioequivalence studies, which test whether a generic drug performs identically to its branded counterpart in the body.
Trials were concentrated in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in the provinces of Guangdong and Jiangsu, the report said.
Chinese companies and institutions initiated or funded 93 per cent of all registered trials. About 92 per cent were conducted within China, while the rest were part of global studies that included patient sites in the country.
Cancer treatments remained the most common focus of the new drug trials, followed by medicines for skin, eye, ear and throat conditions, drugs targeting hormonal and metabolic disorders such as diabetes and thyroid disease, and vaccines designed to prevent infectious diseases, the report showed.
Traditional Chinese medicine trials focused on respiratory conditions and mental and neurological disorders.
The record-breaking figures come as Beijing doubles down on advancing biotechnology as a strategic industry to help drive economic growth. Chinese drug makers have increasingly moved up the global pharmaceutical value chain, with a growing number of home-grown drugs finding their way into overseas markets.
Data presented at the Outsourcing in Clinical Trials industry conference, held in California in February, showed clinical trials in China cost 50 to 60 per cent less than in the United States, and are completed more quickly.
Meanwhile, China’s growing significance in biotech has drawn the attention of officials in Washington. On June 2, US lawmakers introduced the Biotech Investment National Security Act, or BINSA, a bill that would subject American licensing deals, joint ventures and equity investments in Chinese biotech companies to a national security review by the US Treasury Department.
“The news may continue to weigh on China biotech firms”, though a full decoupling from the Chinese sector is impossible, said Tony Ren, head of Asia healthcare research at Macquarie Capital.
Ren said BINSA had triggered a “derating” of biotech stocks, pushing the valuation multiple that investors are willing to pay for every dollar of future earnings down to around 22 times, but added that he saw “limited further downside risk” from current levels.