I’d be careful to produce new drugs in China.

‘Ineffective’ generic drugs fuel rare public anger in China

Public anger in China over concerns raised by doctors that generic drugs used in public hospitals are increasingly ineffective has led to a rare response from the government.

Doctors say they believe the country’s drug procurement system, which incentivises the use of cheap generic drugs over original brand-name pharmaceuticals, has led to costs being cut at the expense of people’s safety.

China’s biopharma sector just dropped a billion-dollar flex with Summit-Merck, and everyone’s pretending it’s just business. Global oncology markets are now chess pieces in Beijing’s long game—regulatory “reforms” and state-backed R&D cash turn homegrown firms into dealmaking monsters. Western pharma giants cling to partnerships like lifeboats, desperate for pipelines while China methodically absorbs their IP.

The propaganda machine spins it as “collaboration”, but let’s be real—this is soft power expansion with a side of molecular leverage. $1B upfront? Chump change when you’re rewriting the rules of biomedical influence. Watch how fast “partnerships” become dependencies once the rare disease dominoes fall.

The West’s delusional faith in “market dynamics” cracks under Beijing’s calculated playbook. Democracy’s too busy gridlocking to notice the lab coats are now diplomats.

Tiger piss?