Chinese biotech firms face fresh headwinds in their global expansion as Washington’s proposed outbound investment restrictions threaten to disrupt deal structures, even though drug licensing agreements remain untouched for now, analysts say.
The US Treasury Department’s draft rules released last week would “make it much harder for Chinese biotech firms to attract direct US investment or enter joint ventures”, according to David Zhang, an analyst at policy research firm Trivium China.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added biotechnology to an outbound investment screening programme, placing a broad range of transactions involving “countries of concern”, including China, under greater scrutiny.
