Bristol Myers Squibb partners with Hengrui Pharma to develop and test drugs early in China.

Bristol Myers Squibb announced a multi-billion dollar partnership with Chinese drugmaker Hengrui Pharma to co-develop about a dozen drugs, including sending four experimental Bristol drugs to China for early-stage trials. This deal marks a shift as U.S. companies increasingly use China for faster, cheaper early drug development, integrating China into global pharma R&D rather than treating it as a one-off source. The collaboration reflects a broader trend of Western pharma firms leveraging China's capabilities to speed up drug discovery and development, potentially reshaping the global pharmaceutical landscape.