U.S. biotech retains innovation lead as China gains in trials and supply chain

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US biotech innovation vs China

Highlights

Cure Innovation Index survey finds China leads in clinical development and supply chain, while the U.S. retains top positions in technology transfer, capital, commercialization, and talent.
Georgetown study shows U.S. share of early drug development programs drops to 37% in 2024 from 48% in 2015, while China's rises to over 32% from 8%.
IQVIA projects U.S. holds 53% of global pharmaceutical market in 2025, up from 49% in 2021, despite China's increasing competitiveness and regulatory scrutiny.

Survey findings highlight shifting biotech strengths

As reported by Reuters, a survey by Cure Innovation Index finds China is viewed as the clear leader in clinical development and supply chain, while the U.S. leads in technology transfer, capital, commercialization and talent. Respondents see the two countries as tied in scientific discovery.

Seema Kumar, chief executive of Cure, says the U.S. remains ahead but confidence is eroding, with many respondents viewing China as an existential threat. The findings are presented on Monday at the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization in San Diego.

Multinational drugmakers have increasingly added China-developed candidates to their pipelines in recent years, drawn by lower costs, streamlined regulation and what some describe as unfair support from government subsidies. According to a Georgetown University study cited in the report, the U.S. share of early drug development programs falls to about 37% in 2024 from 48% in 2015, while China's share rises to more than 32% from 8%.

Drugmakers are also licensing molecules from China at a faster pace, wagering that upfront payments as low as $80 million can lead to multibillion-dollar medicines. Kumar says China has advantages in speed, scale, manufacturing, development and execution, while the U.S. remains stronger in scientific quality, talent and access to the world's most valuable healthcare market.

Funding pressure adds to competitive risk

Kumar says survey respondents rank cuts to U.S. research funding as a bigger threat than direct competition from China. She says the U.S. has the necessary ingredients to remain strong, but its funding approach likely needs to change, including more secure financing for the National Institutes of Health and modernization of the country's clinical development infrastructure.

The broader policy backdrop is also becoming more defensive. A December report from the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology warns that China has built a vertically integrated biotechnology ecosystem capable of challenging U.S. leadership, while the Biosecure Act signed late last year restricts federal agencies' dealings with non-U.S. biotechnology companies.

Despite China's rapid rise, the U.S. still holds a commanding commercial position in pharmaceuticals. IQVIA data show the U.S. accounts for 53% of the global pharmaceutical market in 2025, up from 49% in 2021, compared with Europe's steady 24% share and a decline in Asia-Pacific to 11% from 13%.

China’s new trade restrictions on U.S. companies highlighted how the U.S.-China rivalry is increasingly being fought through export controls and procurement bans. Our earlier article explained that Beijing targeted a set of American firms — including rare earth players — after Washington expanded its Pentagon-linked blacklist of Chinese companies, signaling a broader contest over strategic industries and supply-chain leverage.

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