Jul 3, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min · 10 segments
Why is China’s biotech industry advancing so quickly? I talk with Abigail Coplin of Vassar College to unpack China’s biotech strategy, BGI, genomics, AI-driven drug discovery, gene therapies, biotech…
Abigail CopelandGuestKyle ChanHostSo China's rapid progress in biotech has been grabbing headlines lately with a wave of multi-billion dollar drug licensing deals and a boom in innovative drug development, especially in areas like oncology, cell therapies and advanced biologics.
What explains China's rise in biotech and what have been some of the most important factors in your view?
So the first point that I'd like to make is although the surge seems really sudden in D.C., biotech has actually been a really long-term priority for the Chinese government.
It's about contending with an increasingly large and vocal middle class who wants access to cutting-edge drugs.
And so while it's about, you know, partially about wanting to be a global leader in an innovative field, it's also about these key domestic governance concerns that are really key to the party state's legitimacy.
And so it's definitely been a long term priority all the way back to the 863 program, when actually recent returnees, people like Chen Zhangliang, were actively advising the government to prioritize biotech as a key industry that China could get in at the forefront rather than having to catch up like in semiconductors.
Why I think it was not on a lot of people's radar was until about 2015, most of the investment was actually going to agricultural applications because of China's deep food security concerns.
Starting about 2015, you do start to see the addition of investment in a lot more biomedical applications.
And that's where this current surge in things like biologics, genomics, et cetera, starts to really take off.
So the other thing you have to understand about China's rise is that you have to understand the dynamics of how biotech is really different than an industry like semiconductors, for example.
Semiconductors, the key choke point is whether you know how to build this immensely complicated VAP, right? There's immense first mover advantage.
Basically, the three key inputs are basic science, patient capital, and human capital, right? Scientists and their ideas.
And they're intrinsically mobile and they are intrinsically opportunity seekers.
If we look at China, particularly since, say, the early 2000s, they've made really key investments in each of these major areas.
In terms of basic research, China now, by most measures, surpasses the U.S. in basic science funding, right? It just keeps escalating at a time that the U.S.
So China's rapid progress in biotech has been grabbing headlines lately with a wave of multi-billion dollar drug licensing deals and a boom in innovative drug development, especially in areas like oncology, cell therapies and advanced biologics.
What explains China's rise in biotech and what have been some of the most important factors in your view?
So the first point that I'd like to make is although the surge seems really sudden in D.C., biotech has actually been a really long-term priority for the Chinese government.
It's about contending with an increasingly large and vocal middle class who wants access to cutting-edge drugs.
And so while it's about, you know, partially about wanting to be a global leader in an innovative field, it's also about these key domestic governance concerns that are really key to the party state's legitimacy.
And so it's definitely been a long term priority all the way back to the 863 program, when actually recent returnees, people like Chen Zhangliang, were actively advising the government to prioritize biotech as a key industry that China could get in at the forefront rather than having to catch up like in semiconductors.
Why I think it was not on a lot of people's radar was until about 2015, most of the investment was actually going to agricultural applications because of China's deep food security concerns.
Starting about 2015, you do start to see the addition of investment in a lot more biomedical applications.
And that's where this current surge in things like biologics, genomics, et cetera, starts to really take off.
So the other thing you have to understand about China's rise is that you have to understand the dynamics of how biotech is really different than an industry like semiconductors, for example.
Semiconductors, the key choke point is whether you know how to build this immensely complicated VAP, right? There's immense first mover advantage.
Basically, the three key inputs are basic science, patient capital, and human capital, right? Scientists and their ideas.
And they're intrinsically mobile and they are intrinsically opportunity seekers.
If we look at China, particularly since, say, the early 2000s, they've made really key investments in each of these major areas.
In terms of basic research, China now, by most measures, surpasses the U.S. in basic science funding, right? It just keeps escalating at a time that the U.S.
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