(Yicai) March 26 -- China’s drug review and approval process has become faster than ever before, making it an increasingly important launch destination for innovative medicines, according to a senior executive at Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim.

Shashank Deshpande, chairman and head of BI's human pharma business unit, said at the company’s earnings conference yesterday that both new drugs the company launched last year were introduced to the Chinese market, underscoring its strategic importance.

One of BI's treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) was launched first in China for PPF indication, making it a remarkable achievement that the company has prioritized the country for new drug initial launch, Deshpande said.

In addition to pulmonary fibrosis treatment Jascayd, the company’s oral drug Hernexeos, which treats HER2-mutant advanced, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, was also approved for sale in both China and the United States last year.

Deshpande said BI is looking to expand partnerships in China in areas aligned with its core therapeutic focus, including cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases, oncology, inflammation, respiratory conditions, mental health, and eye diseases. He added that the company aims to leverage China’s growing innovation capabilities and faster development timelines while staying aligned with its existing research portfolio.

China Seen as Key Source of Drug Innovation

Several executives also highlighted China’s growing innovation capabilities when discussing the market’s importance. Paola Casarosa, board member responsible for the innovation unit, told Yicai: “We look at China as an important source of innovation and we have a business development team there.”

In January, BI announced a licensing and collaboration agreement with Simcere Pharmaceutical Group to jointly develop the Chinese drugmaker’s preclinical TL1A/IL-23p19 bispecific antibody designed to treat inflammatory bowel disease.

Amid a broader trend of multinational pharmaceutical companies expanding partnerships with Chinese innovative drug developers and actively seeking licensing and acquisition opportunities, Casarosa highlighted China’s growing strengths in biologics.

“I'm particularly keen to continue seeing China's potential in biologics and new modalities,” Casarosa said. “China has shown strong capabilities in bispecific and trispecific antibodies as well as other emerging technologies, and we will continue working closely together. We want to build the best possible pipeline, which means looking globally for meaningful innovation.”

Weight-Loss Drug Pipeline Advances

The company’s weight-loss drug pipeline has also drawn attention. BI is working with Zealand Pharma on survodutide, an investigational glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist for obesity that is currently undergoing multiple clinical trials.

Casarosa said survodutide is currently being evaluated in multiple clinical trials involving more than 5,000 patients, with regulatory timelines dependent on trial completion, top-line results, and outcome data, including cardiovascular risk endpoints. She added that most key data readouts are expected this year, although no specific timeline has been set because the studies are still ongoing.

Casarosa said the partnership with Zealand Pharma is a traditional licensing agreement under which BI is responsible for developing survodutide.

Editor: Emmi Laine