China, which now conducts more clinical drug trials than the US, still lags in the quality and commercial reach of its biomedical science, according to a recent survey of senior US leaders in industry and academia.

The ‌poll, conducted by Cure Innovation Index, found that China is seen as the clear leader in two out of six sectors: clinical development and supply chain.

It found that the US leads in moving experimental products through to large-scale production, capital, and commercialisation and talent. The two countries were viewed as tied in the domain of scientific discovery.

“The US is still leading, but confidence is eroding. Most said they see China as an existential threat,” said Seema Kumar, CEO at Cure, which is an affiliate of investment firm Deerfield Management.

Of the 117 respondents, 85 per cent said the US ⁠lead will last 10 years or less. The survey findings were presented in San Diego, California on Monday at the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.

In ‌recent years, multinational pharmaceutical companies have augmented their pipelines with candidates developed in China, where costs are low, regulation is streamlined and some say government subsidies offer an unfair advantage.

By 2024, the US share of early drug development programmes had dropped ‌to around 37 per cent from 48 per cent in 2015, while China’s share of the global total rose to over 32 per cent from 8 per cent, according ⁠to a study conducted by Georgetown ⁠University.