$33,800 lab monkeys show China’s quest to rival US biotech
To get regulatory clearance for biologics trials, companies often must provide monkey data to demonstrate human safety.
The price of lab monkeys in China has skyrocketed, creating challenges for new drug development trials and increasing reliance on imports from neighboring nations. In June, a state lab acquired 40 cynomolgus monkeys for 178,000 yuan (S$33,800) each, roughly double the cost from the previous year. Similar price hikes for smaller primates have been observed across the industry, according to multiple biotech executives.
The supply shortage may delay China's rapid drug development pace, as monkey experiments are essential for certain drugs to receive approvals. Industry leaders and analysts attribute the price surge to demand, with an explosion of new biologics and next-generation therapies driving up the need for primate studies well beyond current capacity.
This situation echoes monkey shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the current supply gap reflects China's emergence as a significant source of novel drug development. China now accounts for about a third of the world's innovative drug pipeline, is the primary destination for clinical trials, and has secured blockbuster deals with US and European firms seeking new treatments.
Industry experts liken the current situation to negotiating with companies like Nvidia or securing capacity with data centers for artificial intelligence firms. Prices for monkeys in the US reached over US$50,000 (S$64,000) in 2024, while France's National Centre for Scientific Research is expanding breeding capacity as primate costs have risen to €30,000 (S$44,400).
The surge in demand and prices in China highlights the country's rapid push to develop innovative drugs that could challenge global pharmaceutical companies. However, sourcing monkeys has become more difficult, extending study planning times by four to ten months. Chinese regulatory requirements mandate that monkeys used in toxicology testing be at least three years old, making bottleneck resolution challenging.
Large contract research organizations in China, such as WuXi AppTec, Pharmaron Beijing, and Joinn Laboratories, have established their own breeding farms to ensure access. Monkey studies remain crucial for newer technologies like antibody-drug conjugates, bispecifics, and in vivo chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, which are the focus of intense research and development in China.
The cost of a single monkey may surpass 200,000 yuan in 2027, up from just over 100,000 yuan a year or two ago. However, the financial impact on each company depends on the number of monkeys required, urgency, and vendor. In July, Joinn Laboratories forecasted a 13-fold increase in net profit for the first half of 2026, largely due to the rising monetary value of its research monkeys.
In February, Zheshang Securities estimated an annual shortage of 15,000 to 20,000 monkeys between 2026 and 2028, with imports from countries like Cambodia, which resumed in 2026 after a pandemic-induced pause, potentially helping to alleviate the shortage. Meanwhile, competition for limited breeding spots is expected to persist as private Chinese biotechs raise over US$3.49 billion in the first half of 2026, a higher amount than all of 2025.
Written by urgent.news from Straits Times Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
