Treasury drafts a China pharma exception as tech ties tighten

The US Treasury is drafting rules that would let American drugmakers keep buying rights to Chinese-developed medicines, blocking only deals tied to pathogens or weaponizable biotech. That spares an income lifeline for firms like HUTCHMED (China) Limited (HCM) and keeps China licensing open for Pfizer Inc. (PFE), which recently unveiled a collaboration with Innovent worth up to $10.5 billion.