May 20, 2025 - Business

Pfizer signs giant cancer drug deal with Chinese biotech

Dan Primack

Pfizer building — Photo: Emilio Parra Doiztua/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pfizer on Tuesday announced a cancer drug licensing deal with Chinese biotech 3SBio that includes a $1.25 billion upfront payment and $4.8 billion in potential earnouts. Pfizer also plans to invest $100 million for an equity stake.

Why it matters: This highlights how globalization is still finding a way in pharma, despite trade tensions that threaten to fracture the market.

There even were worries expressed during a recent Axios Pro Deals event that there eventually could be U.S. tariffs on Chinese drug IP.

Zoom in: Pfizer would get ex-China rights to a bispecific drug candidate for treating colorectal, ovarian and non-small cell lung cancers. It's expected to begin Phase III trials this year in China.

Go deeper, via Fierce Biotech: "Interest in PD-1/L1xVEGF bispecifics has been high since Summit and Akeso's ivonescimab beat Merck's megablockbuster Keytruda in a head-to-head trial. Since then, Merck has paid $588 million to join the race and BioNTech has handed over $800 million to secure full rights to a candidate it previously picked up through an ex-China deal."

Add Axios on Google

Pfizer signs giant cancer drug deal with Chinese biotech

What to read next