As A-share listed pharmaceutical companies gradually disclose their performance forecasts, the recovery trend in the pharmaceutical industry is becoming increasingly clear, with some firms even delivering results that exceed expectations.
These pharmaceutical enterprises are expected to achieve profit growth exceeding 100% in 2025. WuXi AppTec: Estimated revenue of approximately 45.456 billion yuan, surpassing expectations. WuXi AppTec expects 2025 revenue to be around 45.456 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 15.84%, with revenue from continuing operations growing approximately 21.40%; net profit is estimated at about 19.151 billion yuan, a surge of roughly 102.65% year-on-year. Previously, WuXi AppTec had raised its full-year 2025 performance guidance, initially forecasting growth in continuing operations revenue between 17%-18%, with total revenue expected in the 43.5 billion to 44.0 billion yuan range. Clearly, the latest figures have surpassed those expectations. The drivers for the outperformance stem mainly from two aspects. Firstly, its main business showed robust growth, with WuXi AppTec's order backlog for continuing operations reaching 59.88 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2025, a 41.2% increase year-on-year; secondly, the company gained nearly 5.6 billion yuan in total proceeds from the sale of its equity stakes in three companies: WuXi XDC Cayman Inc., Shanghai Kantas Health, and Shanghai Wuxi Jinshi. Wahson Pharmaceutical: Volume-for-Price Trend Emerges for Xin Ke Shu Tablets After Inclusion in Centralized Procurement. Wahson Pharmaceutical's origins can be traced back to the Wanhetang Drugstore during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, making it a traditional Chinese medicine company with over two hundred years of history. It possesses four exclusive national medical insurance products: Wahson® Xin Ke Shu Tablets, Gu Shu Kang Capsules/Granules, He Dan Tablets/Capsules, and Nao Xue Shu Oral Liquid. The company forecasts its 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders to be between 80 million and 115 million yuan, representing a growth of 119.76% to 215.90% year-on-year; its non-GAAP net profit is expected to be between 75 million and 105 million yuan, an increase of 118.38% to 205.74%. Wahson Pharmaceutical stated that the initial volume-for-price trend for Wahson® Xin Ke Shu Tablets following its inclusion in centralized procurement, along with successful expansion and coverage into non-hospital markets, are the primary reasons for the performance growth. Konruns Pharmaceutical: Impact from Absence of Goodwill Impairment Provisions. Konruns Pharmaceutical primarily focuses on the R&D and production of drugs for hemostasis & thrombosis and the perioperative period, bone metabolism, oncology, and metabolic diseases. Its core product is the self-developed national Class I new drug "Sulin" (Agkistrodon Acutus Hemocoagulase). The company expects its 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders to be in the range of 145 million to 175 million yuan, a substantial increase of 243% to 315% year-on-year; its non-GAAP net profit is projected to be 140 million to 170 million yuan, soaring 350% to 447%. Konruns Pharma attributed this mainly to the absence of a provision for goodwill impairment in 2025. Previously, in 2020, Konruns acquired Talint International, gaining the "Miacalcic" (Salmon Calcitonin Injection) business, but in 2024, revenue from the "Miacalcic" business declined, leading to a goodwill impairment that reduced net profit by over 70 million yuan that year. Biocytogen: Commercialization Begins Generating Profit, Net Profit Expected to Grow 249.5%. Biocytogen is a biotechnology company centered on gene editing technology, possessing the fully human antibody RenMab mouse platform. It listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2022 and subsequently on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market on December 9, 2025. In 2024, Biocytogen began achieving commercial profitability—with revenue of 980 million yuan and a net profit of 33.5418 million yuan, successfully turning a loss into a profit. For 2025, it anticipates full-year revenue of approximately 1.31 billion yuan, a 37.75% increase year-on-year; its non-GAAP net profit is estimated to be around 80.2734 million yuan, growing 249.50% compared to the same period.
What developments are值得期待 in the pharmaceutical sector for 2026? The aforementioned companies cover various pharmaceutical sub-sectors such as CXO, biopharmaceuticals/innovative drugs, and traditional Chinese medicine. So, what are the prospects for these segments in 2026, and which pharmaceutical companies warrant attention? Innovative Drug R&D and BD Activity Heats Up. China has firmly established itself as the world's second-largest market for the initial launch of innovative drugs. The R&D intensity of China's top 20 pharmaceutical companies falls within the 15%-25% range, approaching the average level of around 20% for large global pharmaceutical firms. Analyzing R&D focus areas, Ping An Securities pointed out that beyond existing hot fields like oncology and immunology, areas such as infectious diseases (e.g., hepatitis), chronic diseases (e.g., hypertension, hyperlipidemia), metabolism (e.g., weight loss), and central nervous system disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's) represent potential future growth tracks likely to yield blockbuster drugs. Mentioning innovative drugs inevitably leads to the intensely popular trend of "BD出海" in recent years, which has become a "fast lane" for commercializing innovative drugs. In 2025, the total value of China's out-licensing deals for innovative drugs exceeded $130 billion, with the number of deals surpassing 150, significantly exceeding the 2024 totals of $51.9 billion and 94 deals, setting a new historical record. This indicates a continuously rising recognition by overseas buyers of the quality of Chinese drug pipelines. Several securities firms believe that in 2026, Chinese pharmaceutical companies still need to prioritize the global expansion of innovative drugs to seek new growth drivers, with bispecific antibodies, ADCs, and CGTs being the most critical areas for out-licensing. This is because, over the next five years (2026-2030), major global pharmaceutical companies are expected to face potential sales losses exceeding $300 billion due to patent expirations, creating a need for these leaders to replenish their innovative drug pipelines through mergers and acquisitions or licensing deals. Amid this wave of innovative drug globalization, companies like BeiGene, Sino Biopharmaceutical, Dongcheng Pharmaceutical, Grand Pharmaceutical, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Tonghua Dongbao, ZSPHARM, Jingxin Pharmaceutical, Konruns Pharmaceutical, and YuanBio Pharma have demonstrated strong potential and deserve significant market focus. CXO Industry Recovery. The increased activity in innovative drug R&D and BD creates favorable conditions for a recovery in demand for the CXO services industry. The China Business Industry Research Institute predicts that the scale of China's CXO market is expected to approach $100 billion by 2026. Outward-oriented CXOs, whose clients are primarily European and American pharmaceutical companies, see their overall demand highly correlated with the vibrancy of overseas biopharma financing. Companies like WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics, Asymchem, and Pharmaron all reported growth in their order backlogs for 2025. For inward-oriented CXOs, with the improvement in the domestic innovative drug environment in 2025, their order backlogs are expected to gradually translate into performance during 2026. Companies such as Joinn Laboratories and PRISMS began showing improvements in new orders and order backlogs starting from the first half of 2025. Analysis by Zhiyan Consulting suggests that CXO firms possessing advanced technology platforms for areas like ADC, Cell and Gene Therapy, and Peptides/Oligonucleotides are poised to gain significant growth premiums in the future. AI Drug Discovery Gains Momentum. Since 2025, BD transactions in the AI drug discovery field have become increasingly active. Notably, on December 30, 2025, Insilico Medicine listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first "AI drug discovery stock" on the HKEX. Entering 2026, pharma giant Eli Lilly and computing powerhouse NVIDIA announced a plan to invest $1 billion over the next five years to build a joint research lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, aiming to accelerate the application of artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical industry. This news directly ignited excitement in the AI drug discovery market. Wind data showed the AI Healthcare index rising 2.28% on January 13. Frost & Sullivan predicts that the global market size for AI solutions in healthcare is expected to grow from $13.7 billion in 2022 to $155.3 billion by 2030. Against this backdrop, companies such as CSPC Pharmaceutical, XtalPi, and Harbour BioMed are值得期待.
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