The U.S. Treasury Department is closing in on American investments in China's life sciences industry as it issued draft rules adding biotechnology to the COINS Act. Hengrui leadership sat down with Fierce to discuss the secret sauce behind the Chinese drugmaker's massive licensing allure. Samsung Biologics has been able to avert strike action in Korea for the time being, thanks to a Seoul court ruling. And more.
The U.S. Treasury Department has released long-anticipated draft rules that add biotechnology to the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act, in a move fated to restrict American investment in China’s life sciences industry. The proposed regulations specifically categorize “pharmaceutical compounds”—a term with a broad definition—as a “prohibited technology” that could prompt a ban on certain outbound deals with “countries of concern” like China. In a silver lining for certain sectors of the industry, the proposed rule largely spares in-licensing deals and fee-for-service drug R&D collaborations that have comprised the bulk of the bigger deals between Western drugmakers and their Chinese counterparts.
2. Hengrui has become the go-to source of China biopharma innovation. What’s its secret?
Come 2027, it’s “harvest season” for Hengrui Pharmaceuticals’ sweeping pipeline. That’s according to Lianshan Zhang, Ph.D., EVP of Hengrui’s innovation ecosystem, who recently sat down with Fierce to discuss the company’s strategy of focusing on differentiated candidates, rather than me-too efforts. When it comes to potential biopharma partners, the industry continues to seek “quality instead of just quantity,” Zhang added. Jiangsu-based Hengrui made waves in May when it landed one of the largest ever licensing deals by a Chinese firm with its $15.2 billion biobucks pact with Bristol Myers Squibb. But rather than licensor alone, Hengrui is increasingly adopting a co-developer role.
3. CDMO Samsung Bio wins temporary reprieve from strike threat after Seoul court ruling
After a year of tension between Samsung Biologics and its labor union, the CDMO has secured a temporary reprieve from the threat of strike action in its home of South Korea. Last week, the Seoul High Court granted an injunction limiting the ability of workers to strike across various stages of drug substance manufacturing, complicating a planned start to industrial action on Oct. 26. The union, for its part, is now “revising that plan and developing a new strategy,” a representative told Fierce this week. The dispute, which has played out for the better part of 2026, revolves around wage disagreements, plus concerns from union members over certain deeper management and labor relations issues at Samsung Bio.
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