Cullinan Therapeutics has nabbed an exclusive license to an experimental treatment from China's Genrix Bio, marking the latest in a series of lucrative ties between US and Chinese biotechs.Announced Wednesday, the agreement could be worth up to $712 million and gives Cullinan exclusive rights, everywhere except China, to develop and potentially commercialise velinotamig, a bispecific T-cell engager that targets BCMA and CD3.Genrix gets $20 million upfront, with up to $292 million tied to development and regulatory milestones plus an additional $400 million based on sales performance. The Chinese company could also collect tiered royalties ranging from mid-single digits to mid-teens on net sales outside China.Cullinan plans to develop velinotamig for autoimmune indications. "Accumulated data supports BCMA as a promising target in autoimmune diseases, offering a precise and potentially disease-modifying approach by eliminating the entirety of the self-reactive plasma cells that result in certain autoimmune diseases," said Nadim Ahmed, Cullinan's chief executive.Velinotamig "complements our rapid global clinical development of [bispecific CD19 T-cell engager] CLN-978, enabling us to address the needs of more patients across a broader range of autoimmune diseases," Ahmed added.The drug has already shown promise. In a Phase II trial for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, it demonstrated what Cullinan described as "potential best-in-class efficacy" at its Phase II target dose in nearly 50 patients. Genrix plans to initiate a Phase I study in China by year-end in patients with autoimmune diseases, with Cullinan using that data to accelerate global development.The transaction reflects a trend of Western pharmaceutical companies turning to Chinese assets to bolster their pipelines. Bristol Myers Squibb this week agreed to pay $1.5 billion upfront for a PD-L1/VEGF bispecific originally developed by Chinese company Biotheus, mirroring similar moves by Pfizer and Merck & Co. for candidates in the same class, while Regeneron Pharmaceuticals struck a deal for a China-developed obesity candidate. Sanofi also recently launched new funds specifically targeting Chinese clinical-stage innovations.Moreover, Chinese biotech continues to draw investment despite volatility in the broader market. At least four out of the 15 larger venture capital rounds announced in the first quarter – those raising at least $100 million – involved assets sourced from China, totaling more than a third of all funds raised, and nearly triple last year's total for the same time period. See – Vital Signs: China's footprint grows in US biotech, but lands in regulator crosshairs.At the same time, these cross-border deals are attracting scrutiny. A US government-backed report released in April warned that the country is at risk of falling behind China in biotechnology, urging a $15-billion investment to maintain US leadership in the sector.