Prices of lab monkeys in China have surged, complicating new drug development trials and increasing the need for primate imports from neighbouring countries.
In June, a state lab procured 40 cynomolgus monkeys at 178,000 yuan (S$33,800) each, nearly double the rate from a year ago. There have been similar price spikes for the small-sized primates, which are needed for drug safety trials, across the industry, according to several biotech executives.
The supply squeeze could add delays to China’s breakneck speed of drug development, given that monkey experiments are a prerequisite for certain drugs to win approvals.
Industry executives and analysts say supply from regulated monkey farms remains broadly stable. The spike in prices is instead driven by demand: An explosion of new biologics and next-generation therapies has created a sharp rise in the need for primate studies that far exceeds existing capacity.
The situation is reminiscent of monkey shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic, when a rush of vaccine programmes drove intense demand and sent prices up. This time, however, the supply mismatch reflects China’s transformation into a major source of novel drug development.
China now accounts for roughly a third of the world’s innovative drug pipeline, is the top destination for clinical trials, and has struck blockbuster deals with US and European firms eager to source new treatments.
“It’s like negotiating with Nvidia to secure its chips, or arranging for capacity with a data centre provider, if you are an LLM (large language model) company in need of computing power,” said Jielun Zhu, co-founder and chief financial officer at next-generation cancer therapy developer Excalipoint Therapeutics. “Everybody has their own way.”
The demand is not unique to China. In the US, where about 60,000 monkeys are used every year in research, some were selling for more than US$50,000 (S$64,000) as recently as 2024. France’s National Centre for Scientific Research is building new breeding capacity as costs of primates rose to €30,000 (S$44,400) each.
Still, the surge in demand and prices in China reflects the rapid pace of the country’s push to develop innovative drugs that could challenge global pharmaceutical companies.
With monkeys harder to source, planning studies can take an additional four months – and in some cases, as long as 10 months, said Harri Jarvelainen, a China-based independent consultant who advises Western clients on preclinical work.
Because Chinese regulators require monkeys used in toxicology testing to be at least three years of age, “once a bottleneck develops, you can’t fix it just like that”, he added.
The supply crunch is testing the ability of firms to rapidly validate drug candidates and launch clinical trials. Monkeys are so central that large contract research organisations, such as WuXi AppTec, Pharmaron Beijing and Joinn Laboratories, have their own breeding farms to secure access.
This is especially important in testing for biologics, a more complex type of medicines that carry promise for tough-to-treat diseases such as cancer and inflammation.
To get regulatory clearance for biologics trials, companies often must provide monkey data to demonstrate likely human safety. A single programme could require anywhere from a dozen to 100 monkeys.
Human surrogates
Monkey studies remain indispensable for newer technologies such as antibody-drug conjugates, bispecifics and in vivo CAR-T – areas of intense research and development and dealmaking in China, said Chen Chen, head of China healthcare research at UBS Securities.
Their physiological similarity to humans makes primates the most reliable surrogates for many toxicology tests, which track a drug’s movement through the body, assess reactions on various organs and – most critically – flag any fatal effects.
Bringing drug candidates from discovery to the clinic quickly has been a major competitive edge for Chinese companies, Excalipoint’s Zhu said.
The cost for a single monkey might exceed 200,000 yuan in 2027, he said, compared to a little more than 100,000 yuan just a year or two ago. But the price borne by each company ultimately depends on the number needed, urgency and vendor.
In July, Joinn Laboratories forecast a 13-fold jump in net profit for the first half of the year, thanks in large part to the surging monetary value of its research monkeys.
In a February report, Zheshang Securities estimated an annual shortage of 15,000 to 20,000 monkeys between 2026 and 2028, with imports from places like Cambodia, which resumed in 2026 after a lengthy pause stemming from the pandemic, expected to help eventually plug the gap.
In the meantime, competition for the limited spots is likely to continue as investments pour in to fund new projects. Private Chinese biotechs raised more than US$3.49 billion in the first half of 2026, a larger sum than in all of 2025, according to business intelligence platform PharmaDJ.
“The good news is that it’s clearly a result of booming business,” said Jarvelainen, the independent consultant. BLOOMBERG
