Fact of the Week: China Has Surpassed the US in the Number of Drug Clinical Trials, With 1,100 More Trials Listed

Source: Adriel Bettelheim and Maya Goldman, “China’s Biotech Boom Leaves U.S. Playing Catch-Up,” Axios, May 29, 2025.

Commentary: China is no longer a fast follower to the United States in the biopharmaceutical industry; it is threatening U.S. leadership. According to the World Health Organization’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, China listed 7,100 clinical trials in 2024, while the United States held 6,000. Additionally, 37 percent of the licensed molecules produced this year are projected to come from China. The Chinese government has launched a decades-long campaign to bolster national drug-making capabilities, which, along with more lenient regulations and lower labor costs, has attracted growing investment in the country’s biopharma industry. Cuts to research funding in the National Institutes of Health and to grants for U.S. universities risk putting the United States even further behind in biopharma innovation.