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East-West Biotech Benchmark (EWBB) — Lite, Q4 2026

Where is biotech's centre of gravity moving? EWBB Lite is a weighted index of selected public biotech indicators, not a share of the entire biotech economy. Each indicator compares activity in the defined East with activity in the defined West; 50 is parity within that comparison.

Machine-readable JSON · as of 2026Q3 · published 2026-11-06

Sibling: East-West Medtech Benchmark (EWMB) · devices, diagnostics and digital health · medtech-benchmark.json.

Headline

The East's selected-indicator score has roughly doubled since 2010.

40.5
Broad East, Q3 2026
Annual 2025: 36.9. Was 19.9 in Q1 2010
28.5
China only, Q3 2026
Annual 2025: 28.1. Was 2.8 in Q1 2010
25.7
East ex-China, Q3 2026
Annual 2025: 22.1. Was 18.9 in Q1 2010

Q3 2026 readings are provisional. The FDA indicator relies on the show's own research classification of sponsor groups, which has not yet been reconciled with FDA's official novel-approval lists; figures may change when it is.

Method update, 6 November 2026: annual comparisons now use the same fixed three-indicator formula as the quarterly series. Earlier annual figures used a different indicator mix.

The trend, Q1 2010 to Q3 2026

Weighted index, trailing four quarters; 50 = parity. Fixed weights: industry trial presence 37.5%, selected FDA approvals by attributed sponsor group 37.5%, single-region Phase 1 trial-start proxy 25%.

East share of East plus West, Q1 2010 to Q3 2026 Three lines: Broad East rising from about 20 to 40.5, China only from about 3 to 28.5, East ex-China near 19 to 26. Dashed parity line at 50. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 2010 Q1 2013 Q3 2016 Q4 2020 Q1 2023 Q2 2026 Q3 Broad East China only East ex-China Parity (50)

Both China and the East excluding China score higher than in 2010. Each is measured against the same West, using a separate denominator; the three lines are not additive.

Eight public-data signals

Broad East share, %, latest available period for each measure. Only the three measures marked as scored feed the headline index; the rest are context.

Selected regulator decisions: NMPA + Japan vs FDA + EMA58.8%2025

Context only. Four agencies only. NMPA count (76) includes traditional Chinese medicines and imported innovative medicines; EMA counts positive recommendations (38), not final approvals. Regulator location is not drug origin; one molecule can count in several jurisdictions. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Single-region Phase 1 drug/biologic trial-start proxy55.0%1 Oct 2025–30 Sep 2026

Scored in headline index. ClinicalTrials.gov API v2: industry lead sponsor, interventional, Phase 1, start date in the window, at least one drug, biological or genetic intervention, and every reported site country in one region; cross-region studies and studies without site locations are excluded. Not a count of unique assets, originators or pipeline stock. Source

FDA-registered establishments declaring API manufacture53.4%6 Nov 2026 snapshot

Context only. Registered site counts on a US-market register (1,312 East vs 1,144 West). Not output, capacity, sales, quality or FDA endorsement. Source

Industry Phase 1–3 trial presence by site region52.7%1 Oct 2025–30 Sep 2026

Scored in headline index. ClinicalTrials.gov API v2: industry lead sponsor, interventional, Phase 1, 2 or 3 (combined phases included), study start date in the window, at least one site country in the region (2,549 East vs 2,285 West); a cross-region study counts on both sides. No intervention-type filter; phase labels apply mainly to drug and biologic studies. Registry coverage is uneven, especially for China-only studies. Source

S&E doctorates in seven covered countries50.1%2021

Context only. China, India and South Korea vs United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany (77,785 vs 77,569). All science and engineering fields, not biotech-specific. Source 1 Source 2

Nature Index biological-sciences Share42.7%2025

Context only. Nature Index Share in a selected set of journals; not all life-science output or citation impact. Source

PCT biotech + pharma application field counts39.0%2023

Context only. OECD PCT application counts by applicant country, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals fields summed; not grants and not deduplicated patent families. Source

Selected FDA approvals by attributed sponsor group18.6%1 Oct 2025–30 Sep 2026

Scored in headline index. FDA approvals assigned to East or West by a research classification of the sponsor; not verified drug origin or sponsor headquarters at approval. Provisional pending reconciliation with FDA's official novel-approval lists. Source

These signals have different coverage and dates. Trial measures use study locations; regulator decisions use agency location, not drug origin. Registered sites are not manufacturing output. See each source and coverage note.

Notes

  • The two trial-based measures are related. ClinicalTrials.gov has uneven geographic coverage; FDA sponsor attribution is a research classification, not drug-origin verification. This index is descriptive, not an investment or scientific-quality ranking.
  • API sites, regulator decisions and trial counts are proxies: registered sites are not output, regulator location is not drug origin, and trial site location is not sponsor origin.
  • China only and East ex-China are each calculated against the West with their own denominator, indicator by indicator, before weighting: East/(East+West), China/(China+West), rest of East/(rest of East+West). They do not sum to Broad East.
  • ClinicalTrials.gov counts were pulled on 6 November 2026. Start dates and registrations can be revised, so recent quarters may change; the exact API query strings are not yet archived on this page.
  • EWBB Lite is a descriptive editorial index built by the show from public data, not a peer-reviewed or third-party-audited benchmark.

Annual scores

Each full-year score is the Q4 trailing-four-quarter reading of the same fixed three-indicator formula used for the quarterly series. 50 = parity.

YearBroad EastChina onlyEast ex-China
202536.928.122.1
202435.624.822.6
202334.624.321.6
202230.219.720.0
202131.018.621.8
202029.215.421.7
201929.613.822.4
201826.310.920.7
201722.58.718.3
201620.17.016.5
201522.54.920.2
201417.94.216.0
201319.93.918.4
201224.44.022.9
201117.53.316.2
201019.43.418.1

East and West

East
Asia, Australasia and the Middle East, including China, Japan, Korea, India, ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand and Israel
China only
Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, measured against the West
East ex-China
The rest of the East, measured against the West
West
United States, Canada and Europe (excluding Russia and Belarus)

Regions are analytical groupings, not a global partition: Russia, Belarus, the Caucasus, Africa, Latin America and most Pacific islands are excluded. Turkey and Israel are in East; Cyprus is in West. China includes mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Sources

Built from public regulatory, clinical-trial, research and patent databases. Scores are aggregated regional shares; each signal lists its coverage limits.

Personal views, not investment advice. Aggregated public-source shares.