Throughout December, Grand Pharma (00512) has been frequently announcing significant positive developments. As the year 2025 draws to a close, the company's biotechnology sector has once again embarked on a strategic expansion. According to a company announcement on December 31st, Grand Pharma recently acquired the entire equity of Hebei Grand Jiufu Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Hebei Grand Jiufu) and other companies (collectively referred to as the "Target Companies"), strategically integrating the industrial chain layout of its amino acid segment within the biotechnology field. This acquisition marks another crucial industrial move by Grand Pharma in the amino acid sector. Upon completion, the company will enhance the stability of its upstream amino acid raw material supply, enrich its midstream product pipeline matrix, and accelerate market penetration for downstream end-products such as those in the large health sector through the integration of production technology platforms and market channels, thereby achieving synergistic development across the industrial chain. This will comprehensively strengthen Grand Pharma's integrated industrial chain layout in biotechnology, elevate its core competitiveness and global market influence, and lay a solid foundation for the implementation of its diversified development strategy in the biotechnology field.
The amino acid industry represents a long-term, high-value sector with substantial potential, and a full-chain layout solidifies a leading position. Amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of protein macromolecules and are essential components of living organisms. They serve various functions including protein synthesis, energy supply, hormone synthesis, neurotransmitter activity, cell repair, and regeneration. They are widely applicable in numerous fields such as the food industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, and human health supplements, making them highly functional and economically valuable substances. Robust demand across different sectors continues to drive the expansion of the amino acid market. According to data from Polaris Market Research, the global amino acid market size reached approximately $26.19 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 7.5% to around $49.42 billion by 2030. As a major global producer and consumer of amino acids, China holds a significant position in the worldwide amino acid industry. Data from Zhiyan Consultancy indicates that China's amino acid market accounted for 32.23% of the global share in 2020, ranking first in the world. In this promising "long slope with thick snow"赛道 of the amino acid industry, Grand Pharma, as an industry leader, undoubtedly possesses vast development opportunities and profound growth potential.
It is reported that the company has been deeply involved in the amino acid field for over twenty years, building a rich product portfolio and significant technological advantages. In terms of products, the company currently offers nearly 50 types of amino acids and their derivatives, holding 26 amino acid active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) registration certificates, making it the pharmaceutical company with the most amino acid API registrations in China. Simultaneously, the company has added several food-grade and feed-grade amino acid products, opening up growth space through differentiated pathways. The market share of some of its amino acid varieties ranks among the top, with the market position and production capacity of its core cysteine series products leading the world. Technologically, Grand Pharma consistently upholds a spirit of scientific innovation, utilizing synthetic biology as the core and pioneering globally leading bio-technological methods in China for producing various amino acids, filling gaps in the industry. The company has established eight major technology platforms, including enzyme engineering and fermentation engineering, forming unique technological advantages in areas such as strain construction and optimization, fermentation control, separation and purification, and product application development. The company undertakes China's National Industrial Strengthening Foundation Projects and Industrial Base Rebuilding Projects, and is the first enterprise in China to obtain the "Same Line, Same Standard, Same Quality" certification for amino acids, ensuring the security of the supply chain and industrial chain for high-quality amino acids within China.
Furthermore, the company has built a relatively comprehensive amino acid sales network, with its core products long serving high-quality clients, including Fortune Global 500 companies. Its sales network covers China as well as mainstream international markets such as Europe, the US, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with overseas business accounting for approximately 40% of its operations. In the first half of 2025, the company's amino acid segment (including taurine) generated total revenue of HK$1.347 billion. Under this well-rounded industrial layout, Grand Pharma has firmly established itself in a leading position within the amino acid industry, which will serve as its core competitive advantage for continued industry leadership. This enables Grand Pharma to effectively control costs, ensure product quality stability, rapidly iterate its product matrix, and keenly capture industry development trends amidst intense market competition, thereby consolidating and continuously expanding its leading position in the amino acid niche and laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term, stable development.
The strategic expansion of amino acid categories enhances synergistic advantages across the industrial chain. As a benchmark enterprise in the amino acid field, Grand Pharma consistently adheres to a business philosophy centered on "new technology, high quality, industrial chain, and internationalization," continuously strengthening its expansion in the amino acid industry. Building upon pharmaceutical-grade amino acids, it leverages its industrial strengths to extend further into diversified amino acids. This acquisition is a key strategic move by the company to practice its core business philosophy and will further consolidate its product and industrial chain advantages in the amino acid business. According to the announcement, the Target Companies acquired by Grand Pharma possess unique technological advantages, diverse product pipelines, and mature market channels in the amino acid field. They are recognized as National High-Tech Enterprises and Hebei Province Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and New SMEs. They have long been committed to researching and applying fermentation engineering and enzyme engineering technologies to replace traditional chemical synthesis methods, enabling the production of various edible amino acids. They own a complete industrial chain from amino acid raw materials to end-products in the large health sector.
Their core products include food-grade glycine, serine, citrulline malate series, hydroxyproline series, and various other amino acid products, with market shares ranking among the top. Through this acquisition, the related products will subsequently be integrated into Grand Pharma, further perfecting the company's portfolio of specialty amino acid products, strengthening the layout of high-quality amino acid products, and aiding the company in deepening its strategy of diversified amino acid extension. Leveraging this acquisition, Grand Pharma can rapidly gain access to the Target Companies' advanced production technologies, high-quality customer resources, and mature sales channels in the amino acid sector. This will further enhance the company's efficiency in areas such as raw material procurement, production synergy, and market expansion, while reducing comprehensive operational costs and increasing market share. Specifically, for upstream raw material procurement and product development, the stable supply of various core amino acid raw materials from the Target Companies can directly secure the upstream supply for the group's high-quality amino acid products, optimize the supply chain cost structure, and strengthen the security and stability of the industrial chain.
Concurrently, the mature technologies of the Target Companies in fermentation engineering and enzyme engineering will deeply integrate with Grand Pharma's synthetic biology technology platform, further consolidating the technological barriers. In downstream segments, the mature customer resources of the Target Companies in areas like human nutrition, and personal care and daily chemicals, can complement Grand Pharma's global biotechnology sales network. Through the integration of channel resources, this will accelerate the market penetration of the company's large health end-products, achieving synergistic development across the industrial chain. This comprehensive resource integration will help Grand Pharma maintain its innovation and market advantages in an increasingly competitive market landscape, further consolidating its industry leadership and supporting the company's steady growth. Grand Pharma stated that in the future, the company will continue to rely on its globally leading new bio-manufacturing technologies for high-quality amino acids, solid industrial foundation and accumulated experience, rich cluster of amino acid products, high-standard quality certification systems, and strong international registration and commercialization capabilities. It will focus on high-value-added areas related to pharmaceuticals such as high-end parenteral nutrition formulations, innovative peptide drugs, and cell culture media, as well as large health consumption fields including functional dietary supplements for sports protection, special medical purpose and infant formula foods, cosmetics, and pet food. The company aims to continuously deepen the core competitiveness of its high-quality amino acids and solidify its position as a leading enterprise.
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