China Is on a Quest to Develop New Billion Dollar Drugs

It’s been more than a decade since Samantha Du returned to China to build one of its first biotechnology companies focused on developing drugs for a global market. Back then, she trained scientists, had perplexing discussions with regulators new to the field and worked hard to persuade people it was worthwhile to back Chinese science.

Times have changed. Now, Du says she has a “cherry pick” of talented and experienced scientists. She’s advising China’s government on accelerating approvals of complex pharmaceutical products, and the world’s most prolific investors are actively hunting promising Chinese biotechnology companies to pump money into (including hers).