Boehringer forges $7bn alliance with China's SBP Group

Boehringer Ingelheim is paying $358 million upfront to claim options on up to six antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T cell engagers (TCEs) developed by China's Sino Biopharma (SBP Group), extending an earlier alliance.

With another potential $7 billion in milestone payments, the licensing deal is believed to be one of the largest ever signed by Boehringer, whose deals to date have typically tended to have a ceiling value of around $1 to $2 billion. SBP Group is also in line for up to double-digit royalties on future sales if any of the candidates reach the market.

Boehringer has been collaborating with the Chinese company since 2024, but the earlier alliance was very different, with SBP Group claiming rights to three of the German group's cancer candidates – HER2 inhibitor zongertinib, MDM2-p53 antagonist brigimadlin, and DLL3/CD3-directed BI 764532 – for the Chinese market.

In a statement, Boehringer said the new licensing deal "reinforces [its] long-term commitment to China's innovation ecosystem and validates SBP Group's innovative R&D capabilities."

Five of the ADC and TCE candidates are from LaNova Medicines, a wholly owned SBP Group subsidiary which it acquired in 2025 for around $500 million, while the remaining asset comes from Beijing Tide Pharmaceutical, another subsidiary. The Chinese group is responsible for initial development of the candidates, all of which are still in preclinical development, with Boehringer taking over once agreed clinical milestones are reached.

"Our partnership with SBP Group…puts our China strategy into action by connecting innovation from China with our global research and development capabilities," said Paola Casarosa, head of Boehringer's innovation unit.

"Together, we aim to accelerate promising therapeutic approaches and create new treatment possibilities for people living with difficult-to-treat cancers worldwide."

Boehringer's earlier licensing agreements with Chinese biotechs include a $1.25 billion deal with Simcere Pharma earlier this year focused on an early-stage, investigational candidate for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and a $2 billion partnership with Suzhou Ribo Life Science in 2024 to discover and develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics for liver and cardiometabolic diseases.

Meanwhile, Boehringer has an external innovation hub in Shanghai, first opened in 2020, which is designed to help the group tap into China's vibrant life sciences R&D sector, now accounting for around a third of pharma industry pipeline projects worldwide.