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00:02Novartis has signed a licensing deal worth up to $7.8 billion with China-based Abigin
00:07Biosciences for an experimental autoimmune disease treatment, according to CNBC.
00:12The Swiss drugmaker will pay $575 million upfront for global rights to Abigin's messenger
00:17RNA therapy, with another $7.2 billion tied to milestone payments.
00:22Novartis will also receive an exclusive option to license assets developed on Abigin's RNA
00:27platform.
00:27The agreement comes as Western pharmaceutical companies increasingly turn to Chinese biotechs
00:32for potential blockbuster drugs as patents on major products approach expiration in the
00:37early 2030s.
00:38ING estimates China will account for about one-third of new molecules in global pharmaceutical
00:43pipelines in 2026, up from 4% in 2014.
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