Harbour BioMed deepens $4.5B+ partnership with AstraZeneca

On November 24, Harbour BioMed announced an update and deepening of its global strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca, originally established in March 2025.

Under this collaboration, the two parties will jointly discover and develop next-generation biotherapeutics—including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell engagers (TCEs)—leveraging their respective technical expertise. According to the agreement, AstraZeneca will continue to nominate R&D programs to Harbour BioMed annually over the next four years and retain an option to license these programs, reflecting the ongoing progression of the partnership. Harbour BioMed will be eligible to receive option fees, option exercise fees, development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on future net sales of the licensed programs.

The relevant economic terms remain consistent with the financial framework established by both parties in March 2025. The terms disclosed in March indicated that Harbour BioMed would receive a total of $175 million in upfront payments, near-term milestone payments, and option exercise fees for additional programs, along with up to $4.4 billion in development and commercial milestone payments, plus tiered royalties based on future product net sales (bringing the total potential deal value to $4.575 billion). Furthermore, as part of the strategic collaboration in March, AstraZeneca subscribed to newly issued shares representing 9.15% of Harbour BioMed's equity, with an equity investment of approximately $105 million.

Building on its core strategic collaboration with AstraZeneca, Harbour BioMed has also entered into multiple additional licensing deals globally this year.

In January 2025, Harbour BioMed and Kelun-Biotech signed a licensing agreement with Windward Bio for the co-developed asset HBM9378/SKB378 (also known as WIN378), granting Windward Bio exclusive global rights (excluding Greater China and certain Southeast and West Asian countries) for the research, development, production, and commercialization of HBM9378/SKB378. In June 2025, Harbour BioMed entered into a global strategic collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceutical to advance the development of HBM7020, a BCMAxCD3 bispecific T-cell engager for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In November 2025, Harbour BioMed's wholly-owned subsidiary Nona Biosciences reached a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Pfizer, granting Pfizer global access to the HCAb platform for the development of preclinical antibodies targeting multiple potential disease indications. Under the agreement, Nona Biosciences will not only provide platform access but also collaborate with Pfizer on antibody discovery, development, and engineering.

Public information shows that, to date, Harbour BioMed has established approximately 50 partnership agreements. Among these, around 30 are out-licensing transactions with overseas pharmaceutical companies, including multinational corporations (MNCs) like AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and AbbVie. Since 2022 alone, Harbour BioMed has completed over 10 out-licensing deals, with a cumulative total deal value approaching 100 billion (including future milestone payments).

This high frequency of licensing transactions has driven Harbour BioMed's revenue to record highs. According to the company's 2025 interim report, its total revenue for the first half of the year reached approximately 725 million (around $101 million), a year-on-year increase of 327%. Net profit surged to approximately 523 million (about $73 million), representing a 51-fold growth compared to the same period last year. The company also maintained a strong cash position of approximately 2.291 billion (around $320 million), a 92% increase from the end of the previous year.

The core reason behind Harbour BioMed's ability to consistently achieve record revenue through out-licensing lies in its distinctive strategy. Unlike most biotechs that engage in one-time asset transactions, Harbour BioMed has built a sustainable, high-value business model around its technology platforms. In simple terms, while others sell products, Harbour BioMed leverages its "platform capabilities." The value of platform-based partnerships lies in their continuity and scalability: as partners utilize the platform to advance multiple R&D programs, Harbour BioMed stands to receive ongoing milestone payments and royalty streams.

Taking the latest collaboration with AstraZeneca as an example, this partnership goes beyond a simple out-licensing of pipeline assets and moves toward long-term, deeply integrated resource and knowledge sharing.

The core of the collaboration centers on platform technology and programs. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca obtained multi-program licenses across therapeutic areas based on Harbour BioMed's proprietary Harbour Mice® fully human antibody platform. It also secured option rights to two preclinical immunology programs and will nominate additional targets for Harbour BioMed to develop next-generation multi-specific antibody therapies. AstraZeneca may exercise its options to advance these programs into clinical development. Furthermore, the two parties may elect to include additional programs in the collaboration within the next five years and may extend the agreement term for another five years by mutual agreement.

Harbour BioMed's proprietary Harbour Mice® antibody technology platform is a globally scarce fully human antibody discovery platform. It is capable of generating fully human monoclonal antibodies in both the conventional H2L2 and heavy-chain-only (HCAb) formats, working in synergy with a single B-cell cloning platform to optimize antibody discovery efficiency. Built around the Harbour Mice® platform, Harbour BioMed has established a comprehensive antibody drug discovery system encompassing single B-cell cloning, next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics, proprietary immunization technologies, protein sciences, yeast/phage/mammalian cell display technologies, and antibody engineering. This integrated system significantly accelerates the development of innovative antibody drugs. The fully human Harbour Mice® platform can be applied not only to monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and cell therapies but also to mRNA therapeutics, bifunctional radiopharmaceuticals, bispecific ADCs, and more.

To date, the Harbour Mice® technology platform has been adopted by over 100 leading global institutions, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Umoja Biopharma, and Otsuka's subsidiary Visterra, covering multiple therapeutic areas such as oncology, autoimmune diseases, ophthalmology, and animal health.

Including companies like Harbour BioMed, China's innovative drug sector has been rising with unprecedented momentum over the past year or two, setting one record after another in business development (BD) deals. According to incomplete statistics from VCBeat, there were 76 License-out deals in China's innovative drug sector in 2024, three times the number of License-in deals (26). In terms of deal value, the total upfront payment for License-out agreements from January to October 2024 reached approximately $3.16 billion, with the total deal value soaring to $51.1 billion, far exceeding the full-year total for 2023. Business development (BD) avenues such as License-out transactions, NewCos, and mergers and acquisitions have together become integral parts of a virtuous cycle in China's Biotech ecosystem.

It is evident that the dominant business model for Chinese Biotechs is rapidly shifting from "in-licensing assets and commercializing them" to "internal R&D and out-licensing." Out-licensing and other strategic partnerships have become one of the most critical pathways for Chinese Biotechs to survive and even achieve profitability. Companies like Harbour BioMed, Biokin Pharmaceutical, and Abbisko Therapeutics all reported profitability in 2024, driven by major licensing deals. Similarly, Alphamab Oncology and Hutchmed also highlighted partnership revenues as a key factor in their financial performance.

Why are Chinese drug assets so attractive in the global market? The reasons are twofold.

The most fundamental reason is that multinational pharmaceutical companies are increasingly recognizing the R&D capabilities of Chinese drug firms, both in terms of innovation (particularly in combinatorial innovation) and clinical data. Taking Chinese ADC (Antibody-Drug Conjugate) drugs as an example, many Biotechs in this field were founded by scientists with overseas experience. This is because related ADC programs were previously discontinued by large overseas pharma companies due to lackluster clinical performance, leading these Chinese research teams to return to China and continue their research based on their belief in the potential of ADC drugs. Now, as ADC therapeutics gain international prominence with impressive clinical data, numerous Chinese ADC assets have concurrently borne fruit.

Furthermore, compared to developed markets in Europe and the US, the R&D and industrialization of Chinese innovative drugs offer a higher "cost-performance" ratio. The relatively lower R&D costs in China are reflected in various stages, such as early-stage research, CRO, CDMO, and clinical development. Moreover, Chinese innovative drug companies demonstrate high capability and efficiency, giving them certain advantages in developing best-in-class drugs. This is another key reason why multinational pharma giants are inclined to continuously replenish their pipelines from China.

Of course, relying solely on one-time licensing deals for short-term profitability is not a sustainable development strategy. Taking Harbour BioMed as an example, while ensuring steady company development through partnerships, it is also gradually transitioning into a platform company. It incubates subsidiaries (such as Élancé Therapeutics and Nona Biosciences—Note: Assuming "Resilience" was a typo, as Nona is a Harbour spinout), advancing innovative projects across different disease areas and technology directions. This model offers advantages such as specialized focus, improved efficiency, flexible financing, and risk diversification. The parent company can provide subsidiaries with technical, capital, and commercial support. Cases like BridgeBio and Roivant further demonstrate the feasibility and potential of this platform model in the innovative drug sector.

Looking ahead, the path to profitability for Chinese Biotechs will become more diversified. On one hand, companies need to continue deepening their roots in the Chinese market and optimizing their commercialization strategies. On the other hand, they must enhance their global competitiveness through overseas expansion and international collaboration. With continuously improving R&D capabilities for innovative drugs, Chinese Biotechs are poised to occupy a more important position on the global stage, creating greater value for the industry and patients by providing more accessible medicines.