China bioproducts list contains much novelty

First in class innovation, iterative improments, and classic onshoring all feature

Key points

• China’s List of 35 Signature Biomanufacturing Products indicates genuine innovation that is still underappreciated elsewhere. (full innovation assessment at end)

• The broad diversity of products demonstrates this is not about leading in individual products, but rather about leading in biomanufacturing platforms that can produce an array of products.

• There is a clear economic security dimension, with several products representing domestically produced alternatives to established international supplies.

What biomanufactured products does China actually want?

We recently reported on China’s List of 35 Signature Biomanufacturing Products (First Batch). The list signals domestically that biomanufacturing is a priority and clarifies the types of projects the Chinese government intends to support, or wants local governments to support.

One of our team (Dirk) reported that China was seeking new and novel process. Readers pushed back asking what, specifically, is genuinely innovative about those products. So the three of us looked in greater depth at the projects.

We found three types of projects with varying levels of innovation:

1. Domestic onshoring of foreign processes (particularly for biopharmaceuticals) which looks an economic security play. Many of the listed products have mature bio-based processes based outside China. The government supports onshoring those processes both at a design and manufacturing level.

2. Iterative engineering and scale improvements on existing mature bio-based processes.

3. Genuine frontline innovation for immature bio-based processes. Numerous projects are industrialising new approaches to producing bio-based goods.

The Chinese government probably does not see these as completely separate, with all three necessary conditions for developing a truly innovative bio-based production sector. Reshoring provides scale and economic security. Iterative improvements provide process knowledge and price parity with non-bio based production. Genuine innovation is necessary to create the breakthroughs for the industry to really take off.

The diversity of the products signal platform ambition

The biomanufacturing processes for the 35 products cover a wide span of production scales and technological sophistication. Production volumes range from pharmaceutical pilot runs (Human Fibroblast Growth Factor 21) to large-scale industrial operations (polyglutamic acid). Technological complexity varies, from decades-old traditional fermentation technologies (Spinosad) to ground-up metabolic engineering (allulose). Many of the companies mentioned are actively expanding their production capacity while investing in further research and development, suggesting continued dynamism in this space.

The diversity of products highlighted reinforces that China views biomanufacturing as a foundational capability rather than a sector-specific advancement, a concept that is underestimated by Western policymakers. By spanning complex pharmaceuticals (bispecific antibodies), food and agricultural products (Fusarium brachyggiboseum protein), materials (polyhydroxyalkanoate bioplastics), and bulk chemicals (putrescine), they are showing that this technology is poised to have a whole-of-economy impact.

Genuine innovation

The listed products extend beyond the stereotypical paradigm of scaling Western innovations at a lower cost. While the adoption of foreign technology remains present—Beijing Shoulang Biotechnology’s partnership to deploy U.S.-based LanzaTech’s ethanol Clostridium protein production is illustrative—the list also highlights significant domestic advances in biotechnology and process engineering. For example:

• Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), in partnership with Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical - trans-aconitic acid (tAA)

QIBEBT has engineered a fungal strain to produce tAA, a chemical with emerging potential in pesticides and bioplastics. In partnership with Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical, this process was scaled up to a commercially-relevant >100,000 L. tAA has not previously been economically viable at commercial scale via petrochemicals or plant extraction. So this is a completely new market with applications being explored on the run. Given the substantial technology development and process engineering required, this example reflects a major full-stack innovation–laboratory design to pilot production to ongoing commercialization–pioneered in China.

• Microcyto - Allulose via fermentation

Microcyto developed a new microbial fermentation process for allulose which is widely used as a food sweetener. From the 2010s onward many companies (including Chinese companies) commercially used enzymatic conversion of fructose into D-allulose. Commercial scale fermentation of allulose has been rare and so represents genuine innovtion. Microcyto’s (JV with Sinopharm) first-phase allulose fermentation plant has already officially begun operations at a tonne-scale annual capacity (reported in mid-2025), and the second phase is under construction with plans to complete by about 2027. There are few - if any - other companies to get this method to commercial scale globally, and it could lead to significant cost reductions.

Iterative improvements on mature processes (Not flashy but effective)

Chinese firms are also deploying modern biotechnology tools to improve existing processes in ways that, while not always cutting edge or flashy, are allowing them to make major competitive strides.

• Bloomage Biotechnology - hyaluronic acid

The market for hyaluronic acid, a common ingredient in skin and haircare products, is currently dominated by Bloomage Biotechnology. Traditionally harvested from rooster combs, the industry has almost completely shifted to extracting hyaluronic acid from fermentation of Streptococcus bacteria. Bloomage’s success can be traced to iterative-but-substantial improvements in its biomanufacturing processes over 20 years. They have, for example, increased fermentation yields from 3 g/L to 73 g/L and cut production costs by 75%. This type of technological development doesn’t make headlines in scientific journals, but it does facilitate commercial excellence.

• Hunan Lier Biotechnology - glufosinate

Hunan Lier Biotechnology has achieved a major market position in the manufacture of glufosinate, a broad-spectrum herbicide. While glufosinate was historically produced via chemical synthesis as a mix of active and inactive forms, biomanufacturing approaches–specifically enzymatic biocatalysis–have enabled targeted production of just the active form. Hunan Leer Biotechnology has been a key player driving this shift. Though biocatalysis is a well-established strategy, further process optimization and aggressive capacity expansion have collapsed glufosinate prices globally and pressured Western firms out of this market.

The economic security aspect

China has made a clear strategic decision to reduce its dependence on the United States and its allies wherever possible — across critical sectors ranging from food and energy to semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

Although China has made impressive advances in developing first-in-class medicines, the majority of such breakthrough drugs have historically originated in the United States, Europe, or Japan. That balance is likely to shift over the next five years.

A number of the products on the list appear to be Chinese-developed versions of drugs already available abroad. While there are minor modifications — and in some cases additional approved indications — they largely resemble efforts to replicate or localize foreign medicines for the domestic market. Some examples:

• Juventas - CAR-T Cell Injection (Anti-CD19)

Juventas developed China’s first fully independently developed CD19-targeting CAR-T product with domestic IP, receiving its China approval in 2023. The therapy uses the same core biological mechanism as established international CAR-T products first approved in 2017 (e.g., Kymriah and Yescarta) to kill cancer cells. So, this is essentially recreating processes in China. Beyond single-target autologous therapies, the company is developing multiple modalities, including dual/multi-target CAR-T and universal/allogeneic platforms, positioning it for broader disease applications in the future.

• Changchun GenSci Pharmaceutical Co - Vuxinqibai Monoclonal Antibody Injection

Changchun developed the First IL-1β–targeting monoclonal antibody approved in China (in 2025). It treats inflammatory pain. It employs the same fundamental mechanism as other IL-1β-targeting monoclonal antibodies, such as canakinumab (Ilaris), which has been widely used outside China since the early 2010s. As of early 2026, none of the major IL-1 inhibitors approved in other markets — including canakinumab, anakinra, or rilonacept — have received approval for use in mainland China.

• Chengdu Kanghong - Conbercept Ophthalmic Injection

Conbercept uses the same science and production methods as established drugs such as Aflibercept (Regeneron) and Ranibizumab (Genentech and Novartis) to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, it is the first commercially successful and large-scale production of this class of biologic in China. Conbercept first entered the Catalogue of Medicines Covered by National Medical Insurance in 2017, substantially lowering the price on China compared with the imported alternatives.

Political expediency and survivorship bias

Naturally, the MIIT’s list features some level of survivorship bias. As a guidance document designed to highlight strategic priorities, it focuses on some of the most notable technological and commercial successes. Within Chinese biomanufacturing, there have doubtless been many fundamentally unviable projects that have received extensive state support, or commercialization efforts that have led to economically damaging outcomes.

Some projects are also likely due to political wrangling and the need to share between provinces as much as they are for strategic intent.

Yet, despite this, the overall strategic message indicates a focus on developing diverse biomanufacturing capabilities and a willingness to look at the wider technological landscape.