Foley Hoag Partner Morgan Xu was featured in a recent Boston Business Journal article examining the rise of China’s biotech sector and the resulting surge in cross‑border deal activity involving U.S. and global pharmaceutical companies.

In the piece, Xu highlights how China’s rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem, combined with cost-effective and fast-paced drug development, has created significant opportunities for collaboration. As he notes, “the business fundamental is, things are a lot cheaper being developed in China, and a lot faster… [which creates] a ‘killer combination.’”

Xu also describes the emergence of a new company‑creation model centered around drug assets originating in China. He explains that, “In the past, there are companies started based on other companies' assets. Or sometimes you spin out, or you buy out a distressed (company’s) assets,” but more recently, U.S. venture capital and executives are teaming with China-based innovators to build new startups around promising preclinical and clinical assets.

A key focus of the article is Foley Hoag’s strategic growth in cross‑border life sciences transactions. Xu shares how his background enhances the firm’s ability to support clients in these increasingly complex deals, noting that “a lot of times, the prospective Chinese client… reach out precisely because I kind of can speak their language. One is literally. Two is really kind of understanding some of the pain points that they have,” highlighting the difference in business norms, negotiation culture and expectations.

The full article, “Boston law firms expand to tap China’s booming biotech sector,” is available to Boston Business Journal subscribers.