Shuli Ren, Columnist

China's Great Leap Into Biotech

Winners are emerging as Beijing backs cheaper -- better? -- treatments.

January 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM UTC

Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. A former investment banker, she was a markets reporter for Barron’s. She is a CFA charterholder.

Biotech At Sotio AS Laboratory As Wealthy Czechs Invest In Pharma — Martin Divisek/Bloomberg

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China wants to go big on biotech and already is marching into experimental gene therapy.

Last year marked a milestone in cancer treatment: In August, the U.S. FDA approved Novartis AG's Kymriah, a CAR-T1516170861112 therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood and bone-marrow cancer previously considered untreatable. Two months later, Kite Pharma Inc.'s Yescarta, which also uses CAR-T to target certain types of large B-cell lymphoma in adults, got the green light, too.