From a policy perspective, China's support for innovative drugs has reached a new height. With the support of the national level, the centralized procurement of medical insurance continues to tilt towards innovative drugs, providing valuable financial support for related enterprises and helping them continue to advance their research and production. At the same time, local governments have also responded one after another, issuing support documents for innovative drugs, providing multi-faceted support from research and development subsidies, tax incentives, to industrial park construction, and building a policy support network for innovative drugs from the central to local levels, creating a favorable policy environment for the vigorous development of the innovative drug industry. ​

 

 

 

The growth of market size intuitively reflects the strong development trend of China's innovative pharmaceutical industry. According to data, the size of China's innovative drug market has steadily climbed from $132.5 billion in 2019 to $159.2 billion in 2024, and its overall market share in the global market has remained stable at around 15%. This achievement is already impressive. Looking ahead to the future, the industry prospects are even broader. Predictions show that by 2030, the scale of China's innovative drug market is expected to successfully exceed the $300 billion mark, and its global share will further increase. ​

 

 

 

Among the many forces driving the rise of innovative drugs in China, the innovative achievements of domestic pharmaceutical companies are particularly outstanding. Taking Hengrui Pharmaceutical as an example, as a domestic pharmaceutical industry enterprise, Hengrui has long attached great importance to research and development investment and steadfastly pursued the path of innovation driven development. Data shows that in 2024, Hengrui Pharmaceutical invested 8.228 billion yuan for the whole year, a year-on-year increase of 18.6%, with R&D investment accounting for 29.4% and cumulative R&D investment exceeding 44 billion yuan.

 

 

 

With high R&D investment, Hengrui Pharmaceutical has achieved fruitful results in the field of innovative drug research and development. Data shows that in 2024, Hengrui Pharmaceutical's innovative drug sales revenue reached 13.892 billion yuan (including tax, excluding external licensing revenue), a year-on-year increase of 30.60%. Innovative drug sales revenue accounted for more than half of the company's total sales revenue (excluding external licensing revenue), becoming the core engine of growth.

 

 

 

It is reported that from 2024 to present, Hengrui Pharmaceutical has obtained approval for no less than 10 innovative achievements, including 4 Class 1 innovative drugs - Taijirudin Fumarate (postoperative pain), Funazizumab (ankylosing spondylitis), Rekaxidan Anti (psoriasis), Aimaxitinib Sulfate (ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis), covering fields such as neuroscience, immunotherapy, and cardiovascular disease. Since 2024, Hengrui has been approved for a total of 19 Class 1 innovative drugs and 4 Class 2 new drugs. The innovative drug management line has formed a virtuous cycle of "one batch for market, one batch for clinical use, and one batch for development".

 

 

 

BeiGene has also performed outstandingly, occupying an important position in the global innovative drug field. BeiGene has established an innovative global operational model, covering multiple key aspects such as differentiated research capabilities, extensive clinical development layout, and independent production capabilities. Some institutions have pointed out that BeiGene's full year revenue guidance for 2025 is strong, benefiting from the continued expansion of its core product Zebutinib in the US and European markets. As a rare innovative drug company in the market with global research and sales capabilities, BeiGene is continuously launching innovative drugs to provide new treatment options for cancer patients worldwide.

 

 

 

Data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the demand for BeiGene's core self-developed BTK inhibitor Beiyue Ze (Zebutinib) grew strongly, with global sales reaching 5.692 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 63.7%. Among them, Zebutinib's sales in the US market reached 4.041 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 61.9%; The sales revenue in the European market was 836 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 75.4%.

 

 

 

In addition to Hengrui Pharmaceutical and BeiGene, there are many innovative pharmaceutical companies in China that are also striving forward on their respective tracks and achieving remarkable results. The successive approval and listing of numerous domestically produced innovative drugs not only enriches the medication choices of domestic patients, significantly improves their accessibility and affordability of medication, but also makes a name for itself in the international market. Through diversified "going global" models such as direct product "going abroad", License out (external authorization), and NewCo (new company model), it deeply participates in the competition and cooperation of the global innovative drug market, accelerating the globalization process of Chinese innovative drugs. ​

 

 

 

Nowadays, China's innovative pharmaceutical industry is standing at a new historical starting point, relying on strong policy support, continuously growing market size, and excellent innovation achievements of enterprises to continuously expand its territory in the global market. In the future, Chinese innovative drug companies will continue to increase research and development investment, continuously improve innovation capabilities, and develop globally competitive innovative drug products in more disease fields, bringing more benefits to patients worldwide. At the same time, with the further acceleration of globalization, Chinese innovative drug companies will engage in deeper cooperation and exchanges with international counterparts, deeply integrating into the global innovative drug industry chain through various means such as technology output and joint research and development, and enhancing the global influence of Chinese innovative drugs in multiple aspects. It can be foreseen that under the coordinated promotion of policies, markets, and enterprises, China's innovative pharmaceutical industry will steadily move towards the goal of becoming a global innovative pharmaceutical powerhouse, and write a more brilliant chapter in the global pharmaceutical and health field.