Chinese pharmaceutical company Hengrui Pharma (SH:600276) (HK:01276) and US biopharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) (NYSE:BMY) announced on Tuesday that they have entered into global strategic collaboration and licence agreements to advance a portfolio of 13 early-stage programmes in oncology, haematology and immunology, with the goal of accelerating discovery and development of innovative medicines.

The agreements include four oncology/haematology assets from Hengrui, four immunology assets from BMS, and five innovative assets to be jointly discovered and developed by both companies, leveraging Hengrui's discovery engine and platform technologies across several innovative modalities. Hengrui has the option to co-develop select assets, and the potential to conduct certain commercialisation activities globally with BMS.

Under the collaboration, BMS obtains exclusive worldwide rights to the Hengrui-originated assets outside the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR (known as the Hengrui Territory), while Hengrui obtains exclusive rights to the BMS-originated assets within the Hengrui Territory, with BMS retaining rights for the rest of the world. Hengrui will be fully responsible for early clinical development to accelerate clinical proof of concept for these programmes.

BMS will pay Hengrui up to USD950m, including a USD600m upfront payment, a USD175m first anniversary payment, and a second contingent anniversary payment of USD175m in 2028. The potential total value of the agreement is up to approximately USD15.2bn, including the exercise of available options for the joint discovery programmes and the achievement of applicable development, regulatory, and commercial milestones for all programmes. In addition, Hengrui is eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales of products commercialised outside the Hengrui Territory.

The transaction is subject to review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions. The parties expect that the agreement will close in the third quarter of 2026.