The agreement, announced by the companies Thursday, includes a $650 million upfront payment and up to $9.85 billion in potential milestones. | Photo Credit: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Pfizer Inc. and China’s Innovent Biologics Inc. signed a global agreement worth as much as $10.5 billion to develop cancer drugs.

The agreement, announced by the companies Thursday, includes a $650 million upfront payment and up to $9.85 billion in potential milestones.

The collaboration spans a portfolio of 12 oncology programs, comprising eight Innovent-originated early-stage assets and four Pfizer-proposed discovery programs, Pfizer said in a statement Thursday.

“By combining Innovent’s discovery and early clinical development with Pfizer’s global research and development and commercialization capabilities, we have an opportunity not only to strengthen our pipeline, but to accelerate the delivery of breakthroughs that can redefine standards of care,” Jeff Legos, Pfizer’s chief oncology officer, said in the statement.

Pfizer has been working to cut costs while building a pipeline that can propel its next era of growth. Many of the company’s top drugs are under pressure due to competition and the loss of patents. That’s sent Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla hunting for deals to help Pfizer find its next blockbuster medicines. 

The company spent $10 billion to buy obesity startup Metsera Inc. after a heated bidding war with Novo Nordisk A/S last year. Pfizer signed another commercialization deal with Chinese company Hangzhou Sciwind Biosciences Co. earlier this year for an obesity therapy called ecnoglutide, further strengthening its push into the fast-growing weight-loss market. 

Cancer also has been a key area for Pfizer. In 2023, the company spent $43 billion on the acquisition of cancer-drug maker Seagen Inc.

Innovent has built a reputation developing cancer drugs like Tyvyt, a PD-1 inhibitor that’s been approved in China to treat eight different types of cancer. The company also received approval in China last year for an obesity drug called mazdutide that rivals popular shots made by Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo.

Innovent also has a long-standing relationship with Lilly. In February, the companies announced a strategic collaboration to advance new medicines in oncology and immunology. 

Under the terms of that agreement, Innovent would receive a $350 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments totaling up to about $8.5 billion contingent upon the achievement of certain future events, the company said.

Innovent has also signed licensing agreements with Roche Holding AG and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

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Published on May 29, 2026