Wednesday, February 5, 2025 – The Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis (CCA) has published “U.S.-China Cancer Trial Collaboration: Political and Regulatory Challenges and the Path Forward” by Patrick Beyrer, Research Associate on Global Public Health.

As part of CCA’s Cure4Cancer initiative, the paper analyzes the political and regulatory challenges to U.S.-China collaboration and offers policy recommendations for how to harmonize the two countries’ cancer clinical trials. It also draws on past instances of U.S.-China public health cooperation for lessons in how to build consensus and mutual trust.

“Together, the United States and China account for nearly 40% of cancer deaths each year,” writes Beyrer. “Yet to date, the two countries have reached no significant agreement to collaborate on meaningful cancer clinical trials.”

Beyrer explains that China’s potentially pivotal role in global clinical trials has been overlooked because of complex regulatory factors. For example, a primary challenge to harmonizing U.S.-China clinical cancer trials is the need to clarify regulations for the transfer of clinical and genetic data. Despite positive initial steps, further progress is needed from Chinese officials to create a more predictable and transparent regulatory environment.

“U.S.-China misperceptions regarding data transfer and usage could be managed through direct working groups, joint frameworks, and the implementation of existing policies,” writes Beyrer. “Bilateral clinical trial collaboration and regulatory harmonization could rapidly scale existing joint oncology research and investments, bring therapies to market faster, form the basis for broader international clinical trial cooperation, and add a stabilizing factor to U.S.-China relations.”

Beyrer notes that full U.S.-China clinical trial harmonization and mutual market acceptance could reduce a cancer drug’s life cycle of trials, testing, manufacturing, and approval from 10–15 to 2–3 years. The disparate regulatory and political systems in the United States and China have hindered global cancer collaboration, but “if the obstacles can be broken through, 1-2 million lives could be saved annually.”

Read the paper here. Members of the media interested in interviewing Patrick Beyrer should email [email protected].