China’s heavily recruiting from U.S. biotech

Chinese biotech firms are trying to entice U.S. biopharma talent, offering execs top dollar to work for them — in America. Several China-based biotech startups are setting up offices stateside, particularly in Boston and Silicon Valley, aiming to bring their treatments to the U.S. market, the Wall Street Journal writes.

Dr. Eric Hedrick, who co-led development efforts of Avastin at Genentech, recently joined China-based immuno-oncology player BeiGene. He persuaded other Genentech colleagues to jump ship as well; BeiGene now employs more than 400 in the U.S. Before joining BeiGene, Hedrick “had no idea innovation was taking place at such a rapid pace” at Chinese biotechs, he told the Journal. 

Notably, some of the Chinese companies that are expanding into the U.S. declined to speak with the Journal, out of fear that they’d become targetsin Washington.