Companies from China single-handedly sponsored a total of eight Phase III clinical studies that included US sites in 2023 compared to six in 2022 - but the figure was still below the record of 11 in 2021.

BeiGene, Ascentage Pharma and I-Mab will be among the first Chinese pharma firms to report clinical trial results for their innovative drug candidates at this year’s ASCO meeting.

Major deals showed an increasing focus on domestic tie-ups while an unsatiable appetite for innovation drove drug firms to actively seek out biotechs for collaboration.

Out of the more than 40 approvals granted to new drugs in China in 2021, domestic companies bagged around half to catch up with their multinational peers in the annual innovation scorecard.