Pursuing Precision Medicine: Bayer’s Betty Huang on Sourcing Innovation in China
ChinaBio® Thought Leadership Series Part 3
Brian Yang
In a dynamic shift toward globalizing Chinese biotech innovations, Betty Huang, Vice President and Head of Collaborate to Cure Hub China at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, leads a vibrant team dedicated to advancing high-quality, innovation-driven therapies from China to the international stage. Her team's unique integrated approach spans academic collaborations, incubation, and alliance management, creating a comprehensive platform for partnering and innovation.
Beyond collaborations with biotech firms, Bayer has sustained long-term partnerships with esteemed institutions like Tsinghua and Peking University. In September 2024, Bayer inaugurated its Asia Flagship incubator, Co.Lab, in Shanghai. This initiative welcomed three pioneering biotech companies: Epigenic Therapeutics, Immunocan Biotech, and AccurEdit Therapeutics.
Notably, AccurEdit’s gene-editing therapy, ART001, targeting transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), has achieved orphan drug designation from the U.S. FDA. An investigator-initiated study demonstrated that ART001 achieved a 90% reduction in serum TTR levels within four weeks, with sustained results observed after 15 months.
As the first liposome particle-based in vivo gene-editing therapy to enter clinical stages in both China and the U.S., ART001 has secured Investigational New Drug (IND) approvals from both China's National Medical Products Administration and the U.S. FDA.
While Bayer China's business development efforts commenced around 2008–2009, significant momentum was gained post-COVID, particularly with the launch of the "Collaborate to Cure Hub China" in 2022. Currently, the dedicated China team work closely with the global team on sourcing innovation. "We are always on the hunt for quality innovations and 'in China for global'," Huang shared in an exclusive interview with ChinaBio.
Licensing, Partnering, Incubation, and Equity Investment
A standout partnership includes Bayer’s agreement with Puhe Biopharma, granting Bayer global rights to a small molecule PRMT5 inhibitor for MTAP-deleted solid tumors, such as glioblastoma, pancreatic cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. These cancers collectively account for 10%–30% of solid tumor types. The asset, PH020 (Bay3713372), is positioned as a best-in-class precision medicine, aligning with Bayer’s strategic focus. Early data from an investigator-initiated trial demonstrated its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, enhancing its therapeutic potential.
Huang attributes the success of such deals to a combination of rigorous due diligence and timely opportunity. Her team reviews four to five projects daily and collaborates with global colleagues to evaluate hundreds of proposals annually. While only a selective few deals are recommended to global headquarters, this deliberate approaches ensures alignment with Bayers’ strategic goals meanwhile maximizes synergies with partners’ priorities.
The drive to globalize Chinese innovation serves as both the scouting and negotiating arm of Bayer’s worldwide operations. Strategic alignment with global direction is crucial, yet COVID-era travel restrictions have limited global decision-makers' exposure to China’s biotech landscape. "The questions aren’t about the data itself, but rather about enhancing strategic alignment and fostering deeper exchanges," Huang explained. Nonetheless, she emphasized that Bayer believes that scientific data speaks for itself, irrespective of geographic origin.
As multinational companies increasingly license Chinese innovations, persuasion becomes more straightforward. Beyond licensing and partnerships, Bayer actively explores different approach and innovative model to support innovation in China. In collaboration with RTW Investments, Bayer participated in a $162 million equity investment into Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals Limited, contributing $35 million. Founded by RTW, Shanghai-based Ji Xing grants Bayer priority rights to negotiate the commercialization of its cardiovascular and ophthalmology assets. This collaboration leverages Bayer’s extensive experience in these therapeutic areas.
The Potential of Cell and Gene Therapies (CGT)
Huang envisions China’s potential to lead globally in cell and gene therapies, a domain with curative possibilities. Bayer entered this space through its acquisition of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio) and BlueRock Therapeutics in the U.S. Within China, significant advancements include Professor Deng Hongkui’s work with chemically induced pluripotent stem cells for treating type 1 diabetes and Belief BioMed’s recent approval for its hemophilia B gene therapy.
Bayer’s AskBio has announced a new strategic collaboration with Belief BioMed to explore the potential for new gene therapies last September.
In addition, Bayer is actively watching out the arising innovation in the field and seek for complementary technology or commercialization partnership.
Huang emphasizes that talent is abundant in China. Many biotech founders are overseas returnees born in the late '70s and early '80s, possessing global perspectives, fluency in English, and familiarity with Western business practices.
This facilitates smoother cross-border due diligence. However, she also notes the intense domestic competition, which sometimes prompts biotech founders to proceed hastily. "They need to ask: who is the right MNC partner for this project? How do we differentiate? Speed alone isn’t a strategy," she advised.
By maintaining high standards and a global outlook, Huang and her team are committed to ensuring that China's scientific rigor resonates on the international stage.
[Editor’s Note: This is the third part of ChinaBio Thought Leadreship series of interviews coverage, focusing on Bayer’s innovation sourcing strategy in China]
Brian Yang is a health journalist who has covered China's rising biotech sector for over 12 years. He writes for STAT News, In Vivo, among others.