Chen Qiyu: Building on "Affordability & Reliability", Fosun Expands the Global Reach of Chinese Innovative Drugs

HONG KONG, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On 20 October, the Sustainability Global Leaders Conference 2026 was held in Shanghai. The Conference, themed "Building a Resilient Future Together: Global Governance, Innovation-Driven Growth, and Industrial Upgrading", brought together more than 300 guests from around the world, including representatives of relevant United Nations agencies and various international organizations, Nobel Prize and Turing Award laureates, senior executives of leading domestic and international enterprises, and experts from leading think tanks.

Chen Qiyu, Co-CEO of Fosun International, was invited to attend the Conference and delivered a speech on the theme of "Value-Driven Globalization of Chinese Enterprises", titled "From Chinese Innovation to Global Value: Bringing the Benefits of Innovation to More Lives". Drawing on Fosun's experience, Chen Qiyu shared his views on how Chinese innovative drugs can reach global markets.

"Chinese innovative drugs are undergoing a historic transformation, evolving from participants in global innovation to contributors to it, and from serving the Chinese market to creating value globally," Chen Qiyu said.

Several figures bear this out: in 2025, the total value of out-licensing deals for Chinese innovative drugs was approximately USD136 billion; in the first half of 2026 alone, that figure exceeded USD100 billion. Meanwhile, clinical research assets originating from China accounted for about one-third of the global total, comparable to that of the United States.

"As Chinese innovative drug companies go global, what value should they create for the world?" Chen Qiyu said, "For Fosun, the fundamental purpose of innovation is to help more people live healthier lives and safeguard more lives."

Pushing the frontiers of science to meet patients' greatest needs

Pharmaceuticals and healthcare were among the first industries Fosun entered and have remained central to the Group's business ever since. In 1993, research related to PCR technology was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Fosun, then in its early days, was already exploring the technology and developed a PCR-based diagnostic reagent for hepatitis B that same year. "That was Fosun's first encounter with the Nobel Prize," Chen Qiyu said.

For more than three decades of development, Fosun has kept pace with advances at the frontiers of science and technology. "In pharmaceuticals and healthcare, our innovation has always been driven by unmet clinical needs. We bring together scientific research, technology innovation and the capabilities needed to translate discoveries into medicines," Chen Qiyu said. "The innovations most worth investing in are those that can truly transform patients' lives."

Artesunate, known as a life-saving medicine for malaria patients across Africa, is a prime example. In the 1970s, Tu Youyou and her team discovered artemisinin. Building on that discovery, scientists and pharmaceutical researchers in Guilin, Guangxi, developed artesunate in 1977. In 2004, Fosun acquired Guilin Pharma, carrying this legacy of innovation forward.

For more than two decades thereafter, Fosun invested continuously in R&D, manufacturing process improvements, quality systems, international regulatory registrations and global market expansion. These efforts helped turn a discovery by Chinese scientists into a medicine that patients around the world could access.

In 2010, Artesun, an artesunate for injection, received World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification. In 2023, its second-generation product, Argesun, also received WHO prequalification. Argesun is particularly well suited to settings with limited healthcare resources. As of 30 June 2026, Fosun had cumulatively supplied more than 460 million vials of artesunate for injection worldwide, saving more than 92 million patients with severe malaria.

According to the World Malaria Report 2025, an estimated 14 million malaria deaths were averted worldwide between 2000 and 2024. Oral artemisinin-based medicines averted approximately 250,000 malaria deaths a year, while artesunate for injection averted around 150,000 malaria deaths a year.

"Scientific discovery brings new hope for patients. Sustained innovation and the ability to translate discoveries into medicines ensure that this hope reaches people around the world," Chen Qiyu said. "The value of Chinese innovation lies not only in developing world-class products, but also in making them accessible to more people worldwide."

The competitive edge of Chinese innovative drugs: affordability and reliability

Today, Chinese innovative drugs are becoming increasingly competitive. At the same time, a key question is emerging in the industry: what should underpin their competitive advantage globally? Chen Qiyu believes that two qualities are particularly important: affordability and reliability.

He cited the example of HANQUYOU, independently developed by Fosun's innovative biopharmaceutical platform, Henlius. HANQUYOU is a trastuzumab biosimilar for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer, gastric cancer and other conditions. The original drug had previously been very expensive. When HANQUYOU was launched in China in 2020, the estimated annual drug cost was around RMB130,000 for the original drug, compared with approximately RMB70,000 for HANQUYOU.

"This means more patients have the opportunity to receive high-quality biologic medicines and standardized treatment," Chen Qiyu said. "But our goal goes beyond affordable prices. We are equally committed to delivering quality that people can trust."

From the outset, Henlius has adhered to international standards in the development of its medicines. Rigorous quality comparability assessments and international multi-center clinical studies demonstrated a high degree of similarity between HANQUYOU and the innovator drug in quality, safety and efficacy.

After its approval in China, HANQUYOU received marketing approvals in the European Union (EU) and the U.S., becoming a China-developed monoclonal antibody biosimilar approved in three major markets. Today, it is available in more than 50 countries and regions worldwide.

"Chinese pharmaceutical companies are capable of developing medicines that are both affordable and able to meet the stringent requirements of leading global markets. Achieving both, however, remains a unique challenge for Chinese innovative drug companies," Chen Qiyu said.

He noted that innovative drug development requires significant investment, carries high risks and demands rigorous standards. Chinese innovative drug companies face the same R&D challenges and must meet the same international quality requirements as their global peers, while operating under tighter pricing constraints. As a result, simply replicating the traditional development model of multinational pharmaceutical companies is not enough. Instead, they must continually enhance innovation efficiency and lower R&D and manufacturing costs by leveraging technology platforms, advanced manufacturing, AI and lean operations to deliver high-quality innovation more effectively and efficiently.

Greater efficiency alone, however, will not sustain the development of world-class innovative drugs. Companies must also expand their global reach, ensuring that their innovations are widely adopted and generate appropriate returns.

"Chinese innovative drug companies must therefore build on their presence in China while remaining firmly committed to global expansion," Chen Qiyu said. "We must leverage the efficiency of Chinese innovation to compete globally, and the value generated in global markets to sustain further innovation. This is an important path for Chinese innovative drug companies as they go global."

From a single breakthrough to system-wide innovation: building a multinational innovative drug company rooted in China

"In the past, innovation often relied on a single technological breakthrough. Going forward, however, competitive advantage will increasingly depend on a company's ability to build a sustainable innovation system that consistently generates new drugs," Chen Qiyu said. Over the past three decades, Fosun Pharma has steadily built an open and globally integrated R&D network. Focusing on core therapeutic areas such as oncology, immunology and inflammation, it has established R&D platforms spanning small molecules, antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and cell therapies, while expanding into cutting-edge therapeutic modalities such as radiopharmaceuticals.

In the first half of 2026, Fosun Pharma's total R&D investment rose 25.66% year-on-year to RMB3.247 billion. Of this total, RMB2.650 billion was invested in innovative drug R&D, representing a year-on-year increase of 48.38%. Revenue from innovative drugs grew 13.84% year-on-year to RMB4.911 billion, accounting for 33.35% of pharmaceutical business revenue.

Building on the success of HANQUYOU, Henlius has continued to achieve new breakthroughs. Its independently developed HANSIZHUANG became the world's first and only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for perioperative treatment of gastric cancer. Henlius now has 10 products approved in over 60 countries and regions worldwide, benefitting more than 1.1 million patients. Its next-generation pipeline is also advancing rapidly. HLX43, an independently developed PD-L1 ADC with broad-spectrum anti-tumor activity and best-in-class potential, is being evaluated in more than ten clinical studies of HLX43 as monotherapy or in combination regimens, with more than 1,500 patients enrolled worldwide. Meanwhile, HLX22, a novel HER2-targeting monoclonal antibody, is being investigated for its therapeutic potential in gastric cancer, breast cancer and other indications.

As artificial intelligence (AI) advances at an unprecedented pace, it is emerging as a new driver of pharmaceutical innovation. Commenting on this trend, Chen Qiyu said, "AI is not merely a tool for improving efficiency; it has the potential to become a transformative force that reshapes the future of pharmaceutical innovation."

This year, Fosun Pharma completed the upgrade of its "PharmAID® Pharmaceutical Intelligence Platform V2.0", supporting AI-powered product development across the full lifecycle, from early-stage R&D and clinical validation to post-launch commercialization. To date, Fosun Pharma has rolled out more than 25 high-value AI projects, with more than 50 use cases simultaneously underway. These initiatives span multiple business functions, including pharmaceutical project evaluation, target prediction and molecule optimization. Two AI–assisted and structurally generated new molecules have entered the preclinical candidate (PCC) stage.

Looking ahead, Fosun Pharma has set a clear strategic goal: to become a multinational innovative drug company rooted in China, a "C-MNC". To achieve this goal, Chen Qiyu highlighted three concepts.

The first is "Chinese innovation", making China a major source of innovation by drawing on its combined strengths in scientific talent, clinical research and advanced manufacturing. This means pursuing original innovation and technological breakthroughs while building competitive advantages in products and costs through efficient R&D and large-scale manufacturing.

The second is "global collaboration", embracing open partnerships that connect China's capabilities with global resources. By drawing on the respective strengths of different countries and regions in R&D, regulatory registration and commercialization, Fosun aims to ensure its innovations deliver value in the markets that need them most.

The third is "accessibility and affordability", building on its established presence in China to serve emerging markets with a combined population of approximately 5.5 billion, it aims to bring more high-quality, affordable innovative drugs to Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and beyond.

"No matter how technology advances or the industry evolves, pharmaceutical companies must never lose sight of the fundamental purpose of innovation," Chen Qiyu said. In his view, sustainable growth is not simply about expanding a company's business, but about continuously creating value that benefits more patients and improves more lives around the world.

"Science determines how far innovation can go, but its true value is measured by the lives it improves," Chen Qiyu said. Looking ahead, Fosun will continue to drive growth through innovation, create greater value through global expansion, and fulfill its responsibilities by making healthcare more accessible and affordable. "Our goal is to bring more Chinese innovations to the world, enabling more families worldwide to enjoy healthier and happier lives through the power of scientific and technological progress."

SOURCE Fosun