Before we dive in, allow me to set the stage.

After all, China and East-West dynamics are so constantly in the news, that most of us (myself included), can often miss the forest for the trees.

So here are a few numbers to help put my conversation with Marc into context:

Add pharma’s approaching patent cliffs and the pressure to replenish pipelines, and the stakes become clearer. Drugmakers need new programs, and now they have an increasingly global pool of assets to choose from.

My takeaway: if you’re an early-stage therapeutics founder, the competition for licensing partners and venture investment looks different from even 2-3 years ago.

At the same time, the maturing ecosystems in China and across Asia may give you access to programs, development capabilities, and partners that can expand what your own company is able to achieve.

That makes this conversation more nuanced than the headlines often suggest, which is exactly why I thought Marc’s perspective could be so helpful, as someone working through these decisions every day.

Here are some of Marc’s points that stayed with me👇

Marc pointed to China’s ability to build infrastructure quickly, its established manufacturing and research capabilities, and access to large patient populations as meaningful advantages. He sees patient recruitment as a particularly difficult area for the U.S. to match, while recognizing that the opportunity depends on the disease and study.

He also emphasized what the U.S. has built through sustained support for basic research and the ecosystems that help translate it into companies.

For an early university spinout, his advice was to understand where its strength actually lies. That may be novel biology rather than manufacturing scale or execution speed.

My takeaway: be honest about the race you’re equipped to run. Where does your team have an insight or capability that gives it a reason to win?

Marc put this bluntly: “If you’re designing a clinical trial today and you’re not thinking globally, you’re not doing your job.”

He immediately qualified that point: it doesn’t necessarily mean running the trial in China.

The useful questions concern the patients you need, how the disease is treated locally, what sites can execute the study, and how the results fit your broader development plan.

What I liked about this framing is that geography becomes a key question in your early-development plan, not an afterthought outsourced to a CRO.

My takeaway: With that framing, the question for founders becomes about balancing where you can generate the evidence your program needs and what would make that evidence useful in the markets you ultimately want to serve.

One of the more interesting parts of our conversation was Marc’s point that a program from China or broader Asia could help a U.S. founder reshape or advance an existing company.

Licensing an asset, combining complementary capabilities, or accessing development expertise can open paths that weren’t available within the original plan.

The broader Asia-Pacific discussion also reinforced that these markets offer different capabilities. A founder looking for research partnerships may need a different shortlist from one planning clinical development.

My takeaway: what is your company missing, and could a partner help you get there? The answer should drive the search.

Marc gave concrete examples of scientific advantages: proprietary biomarkers, specialized animal models, or a complex modality that requires capabilities others can’t readily reproduce.

He also brought the conversation back to commercial relevance. Founders need to understand whether their program addresses an unmet clinical need and whether it’s something a potential pharma partner would want.

I think those questions belong together. You need to explain both what makes the program difficult to replicate and why that difference matters.

My takeaway: If a partner put your program side by side next to the alternatives, what would make them choose yours? That’s a useful question to pressure-test well before a licensing conversation.

Marc’s family-office experience was a reminder of how much investor motivations and capabilities vary. Understanding why someone invests in biotech (and what they can evaluate internally) helps you judge whether there’s a fit.

His pitch advice was equally practical: know the biology, show the evidence that matters, and connect the money you’re raising to a believable development plan.

A budget that’s too small can undermine confidence just as much as an inflated one.

My takeaway: What will this round allow you to demonstrate, and why should the investor believe you can get there? Thinking through that question will have a much higher ROI than any extra polish on your pitch deck.

Want to go deeper? I put together Biotech’s Shifting Center of Gravity, a free, in-depth industry report for founders navigating China and the wider Asia-Pacific ecosystem.

Inside, you’ll find:

I found Marc’s perspective refreshing: a maturing Asia-Pacific biotech ecosystem can be a net positive for patients globally - expanding the scientific ideas, partnerships, and development capabilities that help bring new treatments to people who need them.

For founders, responding to that shift takes some honest decisions about where to compete, what to build yourself, and where a partner could help.

There’s much more in the episode, including licensing structures, family-office investing, and Marc’s advice on building a credible fundraising case.

I hope you find the conversation and the industry report helpful!

As always, feel free to reply to this email and let me know what resonated and what you’d like to see me cover next.

See you next week!

- Vadim

PS: Many of you have asked about how I actually work with founders, so I finally gave the Bench2Bio website an update 🙂

If you’ve been curious about working together, I’ve added more detail on how I help life sciences founders with fundraising, partnerships, and telling their story. You can take a look here, and if something resonates, you can book a quick call through the site to explore whether there’s a fit. I’d love to hear from you!