Betta Pharmaceuticals hopes strategic initiatives overseas will facilitate its diversification away from a single dominant oncology product. The Chinese firm is facing increasing competition from domestic generics, with revenues and profits under pressure.

Roche's Alecensa has bested Pfizer's Xalkori in the Phase III head-to-head ALEX study in first-line non-small-cell lung cancer, making a strong case for it to be the new gold standard therapy in ALK-positive patients, in favor of Novartis's Zykadia.

The past few months have seen frenzied venture capital and other investment in the Chinese pharma and biotech space, driven by increasingly innovative startups run by big pharma veterans, while corporate ventures have been joining with private equity to build up specialist investment and M&A funds.

The successful IPO of China's drug innovation darling Betta may herald a new wave of capital inflow and renewed interest in new drug R&D in China, but hurdles to the pursuit of original research remain.