Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) will partner with Hengrui Pharma to co-develop 13 early-stage programs in oncology, hematology, and immunology, the companies said today, through a collaboration that could generate more than $15.2 billion for the Chinese drug developer.
BMS and Hengrui have inked global strategic collaboration and license agreements covering the 13 candidates—consisting of four oncology/hematology assets from Hengrui, four immunology assets from BMS, and five “innovative” assets to be jointly discovered and developed by both companies.
The companies said their collaboration is intended to combine BMS’ research and discovery strengths, global clinical development capabilities, regulatory expertise, and commercial scale with Hengrui’s discovery engine, platform technologies, and efficient early-stage development expertise.
To that end, Hengrui has agreed to fully oversee early clinical development in order to accelerate clinical proof of concept for these programs. Hengrui has the option to co-develop select assets and the potential to conduct certain commercialization activities globally with BMS.
“By leveraging Hengrui’s growing R&D capabilities and proven efficiency in discovering and advancing innovative therapies, we are poised to advance the best of both pipelines,” Frank Jiang, MD, PhD, Hengrui’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer, said in a statement. “It also reflects Hengrui’s continued commitment to strengthen our global presence.
BMS will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to the Hengrui‑originated candidates outside China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and Macau SAR—Hengrui’s territory of operation—while Hengrui will gain exclusive rights to the BMS‑originated assets within those areas, with BMS retaining rights for the rest of the world.
$950M over two years
BMS has agreed to pay Hengrui up to $950 million over two years, to consist of a $600 million upfront payment, a $175 million first anniversary payment, and a second contingent anniversary payment of $175 million in 2028.
The approximately $15.2 billion value of the collaboration includes exercising available options for the joint discovery programs and achieving development, regulatory, and commercial milestones for all programs. Hengrui also is eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales of products commercialized outside its territory.
The collaboration deal is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to review under the Hart‑Scott‑Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions.
“This strategic collaboration reflects our commitment to advancing innovative science while maintaining a disciplined approach to portfolio management,” stated Robert Plenge, MD, PhD, BMS executive vice president and chief research officer. “By leveraging complementary capabilities across geographies, we aim to accelerate early clinical learning and make informed decisions that support driving top tier growth in the next decade and, ultimately, our mission to deliver medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.”
Recouping ‘patent cliff’ losses
Behind that focus on top-tier growth for BMS, as with other pharma giants, is a quest to recoup the billions of dollars in sales it stands to lose as aging blockbuster drugs head for the proverbial “patent cliff” by losing exclusivity in the U.S. and other key markets.
Of the Top 20 Drugs Heading for the Patent Cliff through 2029—the subject of a GEN A-List last November—BMS had three marketed treatments: The cancer drug Revlimid® (lenalidomide), indicated for forms of multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes, and three forms of lymphoma, which lost U.S. exclusivity in January; and two drugs set to lose exclusivity in 2028: the cancer immunotherapy Opdivo® (nivolumab), and the factor Xa-inhibiting blood thinner Eliquis® (apixaban).
Eliquis generated $14.443 billion in product revenue last year plus another $4.137 billion in the first quarter. Opdivo made $10.049 billion in 2025 plus $2.146 billion in Q1, while Revlimid racked up $2.951 billion and $349 million.
BMS has laid groundwork for rebuilding its pipeline over the past year through a series of collaborations and acquisitions with companies that include:
Janux Therapeutics: An up-to-$850 million partnership announced in January to co-develop a tumor-activated therapeutic targeting an undisclosed “validated solid tumor antigen expressed across several human cancer types.” ($50 million upfront).
Harbour BioMed: An up-to $1.125 billion partnership with the Chinese biopharma—owned to discover and develop next-generation multi-specific antibodies ($90 million upfront), announced in December 2025.
Orbital Therapeutics: A $1.5 billion cash acquisition of the developer of RNA therapies designed to treat disease by reprogramming cells in vivo, announced in October 2025.
2seventy bio: An approximately $286 million buyout of its partner in developing the blockbuster multiple myeloma drug Abecma® (idecabtagene vicleucel), announced in March 2025. Abecma made $427 million last year. The drug’s sales are no longer reported individually but within BMS’ “Growth portfolio” that garnered $581 million in Q1 2026.
Five castoffs
BMS also outlicensed five pipeline assets to Beeline Medicines, an autoimmune and inflammatory drug developer formed in April with a $300 million Series A financing from Bain Capital. Beeline’s pipeline of BMS castoffs includes afimetoran, being developed for both cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), BMS-986326 (atopic dermatitis, CLE, and SLE); lomedeucitinib (formerly BMS-986322, plaque psoriasis), and two IND-stage next-generation biologics for unspecified diseases that target the IL-18 and IL-10 pathways.
Hengrui last September outlicensed its cardiac myosin inhibitor RS-1893 to Braveheart Bio ($65 million upfront, up to $1.013 billion in milestones); and two months earlier inked an up to $12.5 billion ($500 million upfront) partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) candidate HRS-9821 and 11 additional programs across respiratory, immunology and inflammation, as well as oncology indications.
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