Conference preview: ChinaBio Partnering Forum 2019

China is the world’s fastest-growing healthcare market and is expected to be the number one market in the world by 2020.

Cross-border partnerships are a strong focus as the China Food and Drug Administration has made international collaboration and investment easier, including foreign-approved investigational new drug application exemptions that speed up drug trials by two years or more, and expedited regulatory processes for new drugs.

“New VC funds focused on China life sciences raised a record $40 billion, and partnering was up 66%, reaching nearly $14 billion in deal value across a record 369 deals.”

Greg Scott, ChinaBio founder, said: “2018 was another great year for life science companies in China, with venture capital (VC) investment and partnering both up significantly.

“New VC funds focused on China life sciences raised a record $40 billion, and partnering was up 66%, reaching nearly $14 billion in deal value across a record 369 deals. And it looks like 2019 is set to continue the trend.”

The conference features partneringONE, an EBD Group platform enabling delegates to efficiently identify, meet and network with companies from across the life science value chain.

With added features this year, such as enhanced search and a responsive mobile app, partneringONE provides a golden opportunity to find and negotiate asset deals and strategic collaborations.

Anna Chrisman, managing director of EBD and KNect365 Life Sciences, said: “The event is the most valuable in China for connecting pharma and investors with China innovation and manufacturing, including a strong increase in important in-licensing deals with Western companies.”