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Downward, Eastward or Inward? Blockbuster Film Puts Cancer Drug Prices In China Spotlight

 
• By Brian Yang and Anju Ghangurde

Bagging a $200m box office in its opening week in China, "Dying to Survive" is a sentimental movie about a Chinese businessman selling cancer drugs smuggled from India but unapproved in China that sees his life taking a drastic turn, from convicted felon to a Robin Hood-like hero as he helps those in need. The Chinese film authority’s clearance for the screening of the movie and the smash success signal three key messages about the future potential direction of oncology drugs in the country.

"Dying to Survive" poster at a Chinese movie theater • Source: Scrip

Already facing official pressure to cut drug prices, makers of high-priced cancer products in China have another potential crisis to deal with: rising public resent over the lack of access to cancer drugs, stirred up by a widely popular movie.

"Dying to Survive" is based on a true story.A Shanghai-based businessman selling Indian herbs, Lu Yong, found himself in the cross-hairs after a cancer patient pleaded to him for help. The patient was suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia and could not afford highly effective treatments

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More from China

Hengrui Set For Biggest Biopharma IPO So Far This Year

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for what will be 2025's biggest biopharma IPO so far, hoping to raise up to $1.27bn on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China's top drug maker by pipeline size plans to use part of the proceeds to reboot its overseas clinical trials ambitions.

China Biopharma Podcast

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan and Xu Hu

Join our China-based editors Dexter Yan and Xu Hu in this Chinese-language podcast looking at some of their recent interviews and other key coverage.

Insilico Fast-Tracks First AI-Designed TNIK Inhibitor For IPF

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

InSilico will leapfrog Phase IIb to progress its AI-generated candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis directly into a Phase III trial in China, as it prepares for an IPO in Hong Kong.

Chinese Vaccine Makers Turn To Emerging Markets

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Chinese producers of novel vaccines are increasingly pivoting to developing markets overseas in the face of a collapse in their domestic sales.

More from Focus On Asia

UK-India FTA Could Offer ‘Significant Benefits’ For Generics, Biosimilars

 
• By Dave Wallace

A free trade agreement between the UK and India could offer “significant benefits for the generic and biosimilar sectors,” Medicines UK believes. The off-patent industry association has also suggested further avenues for collaboration between the two governments.

Cipla Leadership’s Early Take On Trump’s Pricing EO And Pipeline Progress

 
• By Anju Ghangurde

Cipla's CEO underlines that US generic prices are already “very significantly comparable” with the rest of the world and expects President Donald Trump's executive order on drug pricing to primarily impact branded pharmaceuticals. The company also shared updates on its US pipeline.

Hengrui Set For Biggest Biopharma IPO So Far This Year

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for what will be 2025's biggest biopharma IPO so far, hoping to raise up to $1.27bn on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China's top drug maker by pipeline size plans to use part of the proceeds to reboot its overseas clinical trials ambitions.