Bringing an innovative drug from the laboratory to the market often requires a decade of effort and billions in funding. However, for Inventisbio Co.,Ltd., the greater challenge may lie in monetizing its products.
In 2025, this innovative drug company listed on the STAR Market delivered a worrying financial report. Preliminary results showed annual revenue of only 37.3253 million yuan, plunging 77.89% year-on-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders stood at -317 million yuan, widening from a loss of 240 million yuan the previous year. Notably, this marks the fourth consecutive year of losses since the company went public in 2022, with cumulative losses over four years reaching 1.324 billion yuan.
Inventisbio attributed the sharp revenue decline to its current reliance on licensing and collaboration agreements, with income from technology authorizations and partnerships varying annually. This explanation highlights a fundamental weakness of the License-out model for innovative drug companies: revenue unpredictability.
Examining Inventisbio's operations reveals a straightforward business model: focus on early-stage drug development, then license commercialization rights to larger pharmaceutical firms once products enter clinical stages, avoiding the need for an in-house sales team. Currently, its two core products, Befotertinib and Gesuoleisai tablets, are commercialized by Beta Pharma and Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group, respectively.
While this model is common in the innovative drug sector, allowing companies to bypass high sales channel costs and quickly realize product value, it also creates a highly singular revenue stream. Income primarily depends on upfront payments, milestone R&D fees, and sales royalties, each subject to partners' timelines and willingness.
Financial statements illustrate this volatility clearly. In 2023, revenue reached 186 million yuan, with milestone payments from Beta Pharma accounting for over 96% (180 million yuan), while sales royalties were only 5.5269 million yuan. By 2024, revenue slightly declined to 169 million yuan, shifting toward 151 million yuan in milestone payments for Gesuoleisai. In 2025, as milestone payment cycles for both products neared completion, revenue sources narrowed sharply, leaving annual revenue at just 37.3253 million yuan.
A notable issue arose in 2023 when Beta Pharma delayed paying 180 million yuan in milestone fees to Inventisbio. The company attempted to recover the funds through emails, calls, site visits, and even a formal demand letter by late 2024, but without success. Consequently, Inventisbio provisioned 18 million yuan for bad debts at a 10% rate by year-end. It was not until December 26, 2025, that the company received 80 million yuan, with the remaining 100 million yuan still under negotiation.
Ironically, even though both products are listed in the National Reimbursement Drug List, Inventisbio's sales royalties remain minimal. Under its agreements, Befotertinib royalties range from 10% to 15%, yet combined royalties from both products totaled less than 30.89 million yuan in the first three quarters of 2025.
Amid highly uncertain revenue streams and rigidly high R&D expenditures, Inventisbio faces a critical challenge for innovative drug firms: tightening cash flow. During its 2022 IPO on the STAR Market, the company raised 2 billion yuan. By June 2025, it had utilized 947 million yuan of these funds, with 760 million yuan allocated to wealth management products—a stark reality where a pharmaceutical company relies on financial investments rather than drug sales to sustain operations.
In this context, Inventisbio is urgently pursuing a Hong Kong listing to alleviate financial pressure. However, whether Hong Kong investors will support this move remains uncertain. According to its prospectus, two key pipeline products, D-0502 and D-2570, face intense competition. D-0502, a SERD-targeted drug for breast cancer, competes with eight global candidates in Phase III or later stages, while D-2570, a TYK2 inhibitor for autoimmune diseases, has five rivals in Phase III trials.
This suggests that even if these products eventually reach the market, they will enter a highly saturated space, competing not only with similar pipeline drugs but also facing pricing pressure from established products. Commercialization may prove more challenging than R&D itself.
As R&D costs continue to rise, partner payments remain unpredictable, and pipeline competition intensifies, a Hong Kong IPO may be an unavoidable path. However, whether dual listing can ultimately reverse the company's fortunes remains to be seen.
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