AstraZeneca and GSK strike new China partnerships with Sino Biopharm

Sino Biopharm announced two separate agreements with the United Kingdom's largest drugmakers, AstraZeneca and GSK, to deepen their presence in the Chinese market.

AstraZeneca will license rights to Sino's lung‑disease candidate, identified as TQC3721, paying an upfront $200 million and agreeing to potential milestone payments of up to $1.9 billion plus royalties.

GSK's deal gives Sino ownership of the Chinese commercial rights to the respiratory medicines Trelegy and Anoro, extending a May collaboration that also targeted a promising hepatitis B therapy.

These arrangements add to a growing wave of European pharma partnerships with Chinese firms, even as U.S. regulators propose tighter rules on such cross‑border transactions.