In the past few decades, American early-stage biotech companies have been publicly sharing their early research results to attract investments. However, in order to prevent rapid imitation and advance human trials by competitors, especially Chinese biopharmaceutical companies, more and more American pharmaceutical companies are choosing to keep a low profile and highly confidential about their early research findings.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, nowadays, as soon as American pharmaceutical companies announce successful clinical trials at major medical conferences, Chinese biopharmaceutical companies quickly imitate and launch clinical trials using similar biotechnologies.
In many cases, Chinese biopharmaceutical companies conduct research at twice the speed of American companies, at only half the cost, posing a significant threat to the American pharmaceutical industry. This forces American pharmaceutical companies, regardless of size, to think twice before disclosing their latest biopharmaceutical technologies.
Breakthru Medicine, a biopharmaceutical company in Phoenix, has successfully obtained FDA approval for 13 drugs. Steve Potts, the company’s CEO, told The Wall Street Journal that the company must be extremely cautious when it comes to developing drugs for treating challenging cancers to prevent premature leaks that could lead to Chinese companies releasing similar “Fast-Follower Drugs” ahead of them.
More and more American companies like Breakthru Medicine are increasing their secrecy around their research products. Potts revealed that the company does not pitch to venture capital firms or speak at academic conferences, instead, they only accept investments from a few highly trusted high-net-worth individuals and universities.
Due to fears of being imitated and preempted by Chinese companies, large American biopharmaceutical companies are strengthening control measures when collaborating on clinical trials with Chinese companies. For instance, when the top multinational biotechnology company Biogen collaborates with Chinese companies, they only share proprietary information required by Chinese regulatory authorities and nothing more.
Priya Singhal, the head of research and development at Biogen, stated that this is mainly to prevent Chinese companies from quickly following and imitating, as Chinese biotech companies excel at improving and precisely targeting well-known biological pathways.
For small companies, it is indeed challenging to attract investments while safeguarding their technology. Traditionally, to attract investments, they have to pitch their research to several investors, making it difficult to prevent leaks. Maintaining the secrecy of company technology is mainly reliant on a small circle of trusted private investors.
Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, mentioned that in the past, having a good idea could attract venture capital, even with an imperfect system, and survive. But now, investors not only want to see good ideas but also evidence of actual drug efficacy. Chinese trials progress faster than in the U.S., making it easy to meet these criteria.
Currently, companies like Breakthru Medicine and many American biotech companies are tightening their sharing of proprietary technologies. The life science company Norstella stated that early clinical trial activities in China in 2025 were about five times higher compared to a decade ago, while similar trials in the U.S. remained stagnant, leading many large companies to acquire some technology from China.
In response, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation to restrict American companies’ investments in Chinese enterprises. Last month, lawmakers introduced a bill requiring U.S. investments in Chinese pharmaceutical companies to undergo scrutiny by the Treasury Department. Congress is also considering amending laws to prohibit the FDA from accepting clinical trial data from China.
Meanwhile, the growth of the so-called “Fast Follow Drugs” from China shows no signs of slowing down. Norstella data indicates that between 2015 and 2025, the number of such drugs increased by 15 times.
Data from the biopharmaceutical market intelligence company Sleuth shows that in February 2021, Danish company Novo Nordisk announced significant efficacy of the weight loss drug semaglutide. Within the next 18 months, at least 16 Chinese projects targeting the same mechanism submitted clinical trial applications or started trials in China. By June of this year, at least 62 of these Chinese projects had been initiated, with 13 of them being licensed to American and European pharmaceutical giants, with Novo Nordisk purchasing one Chinese version developed from their own research.
At the end of 2023, a similar chain reaction swept through the field of oncology. When Amgen announced a drug targeting a difficult-to-treat protein on small cell lung cancer cells, a Chinese company started a competitive clinical trial just six weeks later. Within the following 18 months, at least 10 independent projects targeting the same protein entered clinical development stages in China.
The field of gene medicine was not spared from similar incidents. U.S.-based Beam Therapeutics developed an experimental therapy for a rare genetic disease affecting the lungs and liver, planning to conduct clinical drug trials on the first patient in 2024. Shortly after, Shanghai-based YolTech Therapeutics utilized the same technology and targeted the same pathway to develop a competitive “Fast-Follower Drug”, which was approved for late-stage clinical trials by U.S. regulatory authorities in March of this year. Last month, an American biotech company acquired rights to the YolTech drug.
Only two months ago, Beam had reached an agreement with the FDA to expedite the approval process of their own drug. A former employee of Beam joined YolTech in 2022, claiming she was not involved in the development of competitive drugs during her time at Beam.