On 20 April 2026, Biogen announced that it would acquire exclusive rights to TJ Biopharma’s anti-CD38 immunotherapy, felzartamab, in the Greater China region for up to $850m, granting it global rights to the drug. Biogen will also gain control of the registrational biologics licence application (BLA) that has already been submitted to China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM). The company has indicated that it intends to lead the commercial efforts following the drug’s approval. As part of the deal, the manufacturing of the drug will be retained by TJ Biopharma at its Hangzhou GMP facility in China, which would make felzartamab China’s first domestically produced anti-CD38 immunotherapy for MM.
In 2025, 35.8% of all r/r MM patients were treated with an anti-CD38 antibody, representing a market size of $7.6bn across the eight major markets (US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan, and China), according to GlobalData’s patient-based forecast. Prescriptions are dominated by the first-in-class drug, Janssen Biotech’s Darzalex (daratumumab), which accounted for 87.5% of global anti-CD38 use and sales of $7.1bn in 2025. While Darzalex has a high efficacy and favourable safety profile, it requires an intravenous infusion of up to seven hours in the clinic, which means that treatments are a significant burden for patients and practices alike. TJ Biopharma reported that its BLA to the NMPA was based on promising clinical trial data demonstrating that felzartamab had comparable efficacy and safety, when applied in combination with the oral drugs dexamethasone and lenalidomide, to Darzalex.
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Felzartamab has a significant advantage over Darzalex, as it has a dramatically shorter administration time of 1.5 hours. However, Janssen’s subcutaneous formulation of Darzalex, Darzalex Faspro, is currently being trialled in China for MM. This less invasive formulation is administered in just 3–5 minutes, and opens the gateway to home administration, as already granted in the US. If this gains approval in China, it will raise the competitive bar considerably based on its convenience.
In China, felzartamab’s potential to perform as a rival anti-CD38 comes down to its domestic sourcing. Boosting domestic pharmaceutical production is a leading strategy of the Chinese Government, which backs local manufacturers through policy incentives, including volume-based procurement, fiscal subsidies, tax relief, and regulatory fast-tracking. Whether Biogen would be able to deliver its drug to a much larger share of Chinese patients depends on building trust among prescribers, who are still awaiting the publication of Phase III clinical trial data. However, if successful, GlobalData’s patient-based forecast projects that felzartamab will capture 14.6% of the $458m Chinese MM market in 2029. It remains to be seen whether Biogen will judge the advantages of domestic capacity sufficient to mount a serious challenge to the incumbent.
