China’s lab monkey prices hit Covid-era highs on new drug R&D demand

SCMP | July 16, 2026, 2 a.m. | Original

Long macaque breeding cycles and fully pre-booked colonies have forced some researchers to halt their critical studies

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Crab-eating macaques comprise the vast majority of non-human primates used in laboratory experiments. Photo: Shutterstock

A boom in China’s new drug research and development is driving laboratory monkey prices back to coronavirus pandemic -era highs, forcing some researchers to halt their studies.
According to Guo Xiangyu, a scientist at Jinan University in Guangzhou whose research focuses on developing non-human primate models for major brain diseases, laboratory monkey prices have risen steadily since Chinese New Year .

Suppliers are now generally quoting about 180,000 yuan (US$27,000) per animal.

“It is not just a question of price,” said Guo, who works at the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Non-Human Primate Research. “In many cases, the monkeys simply cannot be bought. Suppliers say they have all been pre-booked.”

Crab-eating macaques are sought because of their relatively small adult size, which requires lower doses of experimental drugs during testing. Photo: Shutterstock
Crab-eating macaques are sought because of their relatively small adult size, which requires lower doses of experimental drugs during testing. Photo: Shutterstock

Guo said his laboratory required between 30 and 50 monkeys each year for scientific work, including pathological and molecular biological analyses.

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