China's Haisco Pharmaceutical has entered a strategic R&D collaboration with Eli Lilly, potentially valued at over USD 3 billion. Under the agreement, a Haisco subsidiary will leverage its small‑molecule platform to conduct discovery and early‑stage research on up to five novel targets selected by Lilly. The US pharma giant will secure global or ex‑China exclusive rights to the resulting candidates, while Haisco retains commercial rights for Greater China on certain programs.

Haisco is eligible to receive up to USD 87 million in upfront and near‑term payments, plus up to USD 2.97 billion in clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, alongside tiered royalties on future sales.

In a separate milestone, Haisco also announced that its self‑developed GABAA receptor agonist, ciprofol injection, has received US market approval for adult anaesthesia induction. This marks the first US nod for an innovative intravenous anaesthetic originating from China.

PharmCube's NextBiopharm® database shows that the top 10 drug discovery partnerships by value are dominated by deals between Chinese and Big Pharma companies. Click here to request a free trial for NextBiopharm®.