Roche Partners With China's Hansoh in Deal That Could Top $15 Billion — Update

By Adria Calatayud

Roche Holding entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group, continuing a dealmaking spree in China with a partnership that could net the Chinese drugmaker more than $15 billion.

The latest deal with Hansoh, centered on cancer therapies, follows earlier agreements between the Swiss drugmaker and Chinese companies including Rona Therapeutics, Simcere Zaiming and Defand Therapeutics for medicines to treat obesity and autoimmune diseases. Roche also signed a narrower collaboration agreement in oncology with Duality Biotherapeutics.

Hansoh will receive $400 million upfront from Roche and $110 million after a year, and be eligible for potential payments subject to targets totaling more than $15 billion, it said Monday. Hansoh would also get royalties on potential sales if the products are commercialized, it added.

The collaboration aims to advance a portfolio of so-called antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, across multiple cancer types. ADCs--a type of targeted therapy that aims to deliver a concentrated dose of chemotherapy directly into the tumor while sparing more healthy tissue than standard chemotherapy--have emerged as one of the most competitive areas in oncology.

Several of Roche's recent licensing deals in China centered on ADCs. Its licensing deal with Duality Bio announced in August seeks to develop ADCs, and the Swiss company also struck a licensing deal with MediLink Therapeutics in January for an ADC, with plans to conduct global trials to assess its potential across multiple tumor types. Last year, Roche entered into a licensing deal with Hansoh for another ADC.

The new agreement with Hansoh includes two programs from the Chinese company as well as multiple others powered by its technology platform and based on drug targets proposed by Roche, Hansoh said.

Hansoh said it would be in charge of leading the early development of the programs, with Roche assuming responsibility outside China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan after the completion of early-stage clinical trials.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2026 11:52 ET (15:52 GMT)