What Executives and Investors Are Looking for in Pharma Companies

Earlier this year, Pharmaceutical Executive reported on China’s growing prominence in the pharma and biotech spaces. During this year, billions of dollars have been committed to licensing commitments with Chinese companies, with many US-based companies making up a significant percentage of those deals.

According to the report, these deals hit a record high in 2024 at about $51.9 billion, which was a 90% jump from 2023’s numbers. This number then increased again in 2025 and is expected to increase again by the end of 2026.

Pharmaceutical Executive spoke with K2 Therapeutics’ CEO Dr. Ying Huang about the growing shift towards globally sourced innovation and the increased focus on foreign partnerships. The push has become so strong that it’s even impacted how investors analyze pharma and biotech companies.

Pharmaceutical Executive: What are executives and investors looking for in the next generation of biotech companies?
Dr. Ying Huang: The first priority should always be addressing an unmet medical need. There are certain cancers for which no good treatment options exist, let alone a cure. There are diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's where we can only slow the progression of symptoms. You always want to focus on conditions where the unmet need is significant — because just as with any product, you need to be offering something the market genuinely needs.

The second consideration is accessibility — cost and pricing have become increasingly prominent in public discourse, across presidential elections and beyond. As an industry, can we reduce the time it takes to develop drugs, and can we reduce the costs associated with discovery and development? Those have become critical questions.

Third, can we create shareholder value in the process? That means satisfying a significant unmet medical need with a drug that is reasonably priced and accessible to the patients who need it — while recognizing that drug development is a lengthy, capital-intensive, and inherently risky undertaking. Achieving all three of those things at once is what defines a truly successful biotech company.