LES awarded Deals of Distinction™ in five industry sectors at the LES Annual Meeting Business Luncheon on October 20, 2025. The sectors included: High-Tech, Brands as a Business, Industry-University-Government Interface, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences. Now in its twenty-first year, the annual program recognizes companies that orchestrate the year’s most outstanding licensing and business deals in each sector. Key dealmakers were on hand to provide insights on their winning deals.
Dealmakers: GSK plc and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd
Presented by Adam Falconi, Chair, LES Life Sciences Sector, and Gayatri Varma, LES Life Sciences Sector, to Jonathan Kiburz of GSK and Jens Norhave of Hengrui Pharmaceuticals via video recording.
Why it won…
GSK and Hengrui Pharmaceuticals received the Deal of Distinction Award for a broad, strategic collaboration to co-develop up to 12 innovative medicines spanning respiratory, immunology, inflammation, and oncology. Dubbed ’12 Deals in One,’ this innovative partnership enabled a compressed timeline and human proof-of-concept that broke new ground. The scale of this collaboration between two industry leaders was remarkable.
“As many of us in this business appreciate, executing an agreement of this scope across multiple therapeutic areas and assets demands exceptional collaboration and negotiation,” said Gayatri Varma (LES Life Sciences).
Jens Norhave (Hengrui Pharma) said, “This collaboration also represents more than just a transaction. It’s about a shared vision, trust, and commitment to bring meaningful innovation to patients across the world. And a deal like this only happens if you have dedicated teams on both sides working together, think creatively, and partner to make it happen.”
He continued, “We are proud of what the GSK/Hengrui Partnership stands for, and we are proud to receive this award. Thank you.”
Financial considerations
GSK will pay $500 million in upfront fees across the agreements, including for the license of the PDE3/4 program. The potential total value of future success-based development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments to Hengrui Pharma is approximately $12 billion if all programs are optioned and all milestones are achieved. Additionally, Hengrui Pharma will be eligible to receive tiered royalties on global product net sales (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan).
LES Deal of Distinction Criteria
The Licensing Executives Society’s Deal of Distinction Award recognizes agreements that:
- Solve business problems creatively
- Feature novel licensing structures
- Represent “seismic events” within their industry sector
View more on the deal here.
The LES Deals of Distinction Award for Life Sciences in 2025 was awarded Adam Falconi, Gayatri Varma, Jens Norhave, and Jon Kiburz at the LES Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.
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