Pfizer jumps into cancer-treatment race with a $6 billion licensing deal with a China-based company, six months after Merck’s move for a lot less money.

Pfizer has announced a new agreement to develop and market a cancer drug being developed by Chinese drugmaker 3SBio.

Pfizer will pay $1.25 billion upfront to license an experimental cancer drug out of China, in a deal that underscores multinational drugmakers’ growing enthusiasm for Chinese biotech innovation.