As industry adjustments deepen, medical aesthetics companies are experiencing divergent development paths. Recently, three leading medical aesthetics companies - Huaxi Bio, Giant Bio, and Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd. - delivered markedly different mid-year results: Giant Bio led the pack with revenue of 3.113 billion yuan and 22.5% year-over-year growth; Huaxi Bio suffered from strategic transformation setbacks with significant declines in profitability indicators; Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd. faced persistent channel issues and inventory pressure, also showing notable performance deterioration.
This mid-year assessment not only outlines each company's strategic gains and losses but also reflects the industry's clear trajectory of transformation from "traffic dividends" to "technical barriers." As competition between recombinant collagen and hyaluronic acid intensifies and "Class III medical device certificates" become new entry tickets, the different choices made by these three companies have become key variables determining future performance trajectories.
**Marketing Strategy Adjustment Pains Put Pressure on Two Giants**
Huaxi Bio delivered its "worst interim report" since listing. The interim report shows that in the first half of 2025, Huaxi Bio achieved operating revenue of 2.261 billion yuan, down 19.57% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 221 million yuan, down 35.38% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders excluding non-recurring gains and losses was 174 million yuan, down 45% year-over-year.
Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd. similarly delivered declining revenue and profit performance. The company's 2025 interim report shows it achieved revenue of 863 million yuan in the first half, down 8.15% year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 230 million yuan, down significantly by 32.54%; adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders was 166 million yuan, down 48.66% year-over-year.
Unlike the performance pressure faced by Huaxi Bio and Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd., Giant Bio maintained growth momentum in the first half. Giant Bio's 2025 interim report shows it achieved revenue of 3.113 billion yuan in the first half, up 22.5% year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.182 billion yuan, up 20.2% year-over-year. Although growth rates have slowed compared to the high-speed growth of 58.2% in revenue and 47.4% in net profit in the same period last year, growth remains robust.
Regarding the performance decline, Huaxi Bio attributed the cause to decreased revenue from its dermatological science innovation transformation business. The company explained that this business segment remains in an adjustment cycle, causing short-term revenue impact. Through actively cutting inefficient marketing, restructuring scientific brand systems, and sacrificing short-term revenue, the company aims to achieve long-term healthy development.
The dermatological science innovation transformation business, formerly the "functional skincare" business, was once Huaxi Bio's performance "powerhouse." The interim report shows this business achieved revenue of 912 million yuan in the first half, down significantly by 33.97% year-over-year.
Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd. also provided explanations for its performance. Revenue decline was mainly due to offline channel optimization during the reporting period; net profit decline was primarily due to continued increases in promotional expenses. The interim report shows the company's sales expenses in the first half were 420 million yuan, up 39.56% from 301 million yuan in the same period last year.
**Huaxi Bio's Revenue Driver "Stalls," Fuerjia's Channel Issues Highlighted**
Huaxi Bio started with hyaluronic acid raw materials and began expanding into the full hyaluronic acid industry chain in 2012, earning the title "Hyaluronic Acid King." Since listing in 2019, Huaxi Bio had maintained double-digit growth in both revenue and profit, but performance began declining in 2023.
This performance "transformation" is closely related to the lackluster growth of Huaxi Bio's functional skincare business. During 2019-2022, Huaxi Bio's functional skincare business maintained growth momentum, reaching revenue of 4.607 billion yuan in 2022, accounting for 72.45% of main business revenue. However, since 2023, this business's growth momentum weakened and entered a decline channel. By the end of 2024, its revenue had continuously contracted to 2.569 billion yuan, with its proportion of main business revenue simultaneously dropping to 47.84%.
Facing the dilemma of its former revenue driver "stalling," Huaxi Bio is actively seeking change. In 2024, the company began sweeping reforms, intensively launching multiple reform measures including business process restructuring, organizational and talent transformation, and promoting enterprise digitalization. Starting in the second quarter of this year, Huaxi Bio's Chairman and General Manager Zhao Yan personally descended to core business segments, directly taking over management of the Brand and Communication Management Center, BM Muscle Activation, and Mibel brands, attempting to accelerate strategic implementation through direct management intervention.
Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd., which has deeply cultivated the skincare industry and once became extremely popular due to the "medical aesthetics facial mask" concept, also faces the predicament of core business deceleration, with high marketing investments failing to translate into performance growth.
The interim report shows that Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd.'s revenue mainly comes from medical device products and cosmetic products. Medical device products have always been the company's core business, including multiple star products with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan, such as medical sodium hyaluronate repair patches (white film) and medical sodium hyaluronate repair patches (black film).
In the first half of this year, medical device product revenue was 238 million yuan, down sharply by 48.07%, accounting for 27.61% of total revenue, while this proportion was 48.83% in the same period last year.
Additionally, Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd.'s revenue mainly relies on online channels. In the first half of this year, online channel sales were 695 million yuan, up significantly by about 47% from 472 million yuan in the same period last year, with the proportion of main revenue increasing from 50.26% to 80.5%.
Industry analyst Zhang Congwen noted that the medical aesthetics industry was previously driven to some extent by marketing and channels. Companies relied on online platform traffic explosions and consumer novelty toward "medical aesthetics concepts," achieving rapid growth through large-scale marketing investments. However, the marginal effects of this model are rapidly diminishing, and pure online traffic strategies have reached a dead end. Future marketing competition will be comprehensive competition involving brand mindshare, product capability, and private domain operation efficiency.
In stark contrast to Huaxi Bio and Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd., Giant Bio achieved double growth in revenue and profit. Giant Bio stated in its financial report that overall revenue growth was mainly driven by increased sales volume of professional skincare products.
The financial report shows Giant Bio's business mainly includes two major segments: professional skincare products and health food products. Professional skincare products contributed 99.7% of revenue, with functional skincare products generating revenue of 2.41 billion yuan (77.4% share) and medical dressings generating revenue of 693 million yuan (22.3% share).
Giant Bio, known as the "first collagen stock" on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is a leading enterprise in the recombinant collagen field. Its "Collagen Beauty" brand, featuring recombinant collagen ingredients, is its performance pillar. In the first half of this year, "Collagen Beauty" contributed revenue of 2.542 billion yuan, up 22.7% year-over-year, accounting for 81.7% of total revenue.
**"Class III Medical Device Certificates" Become Key to Breaking Through**
The medical aesthetics industry evolves rapidly, and hyaluronic acid, which once created industry wealth myths, now faces challenges from recombinant collagen.
In May this year, Huaxi Bio and Giant Bio publicly disputed the recombinant collagen content in Collagen Beauty products. Beauty bloggers published videos or articles on multiple platforms, publicly questioning the recombinant collagen content in Giant Bio's "Collagen Beauty" related products. Giant Bio fought back to prove its innocence, while Huaxi Bio sided with the blogger.
Behind this "war of words" lies the competition between two major anti-aging ingredients in the medical aesthetics industry: hyaluronic acid and collagen.
Huaxi Bio previously stated that Class III medical devices represent the highest technical content and commercial value in the medical aesthetics industry. However, currently, the only three domestic "Class III medical device certificates" for recombinant Type III humanized collagen products all belong to Jinbo Bio.
Jinbo Bio mentioned in this year's interim report that according to Frost & Sullivan data, China's recombinant collagen product market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 44.93%, reaching 58.57 billion yuan by 2025. By 2030, China's recombinant collagen product market will reach 219.38 billion yuan.
Facing recombinant collagen as the "industry darling," voices "badmouthing" hyaluronic acid have emerged within the industry. In response, Huaxi Bio has repeatedly made public statements, clearly opposing the "hyaluronic acid obsolescence theory," stating that the decline of its functional skincare business was not due to missing any "market opportunities."
While defending the hyaluronic acid territory, Huaxi Bio is also extending its business into recombinant collagen. The interim report shows that in pharmaceutical device R&D, the company's Class III medical device collagen hydrogel products developed from proprietary recombinant human collagen raw materials have entered clinical trial stages, while Class II medical devices (such as recombinant collagen wound dressings) have been successively approved.
Regarding Harbin Fuerjia Technology Co.,Ltd., the company began layout in the collagen track in 2022, launching Class II medical collagen dressings, building a dual-drive product matrix of sodium hyaluronate and collagen. Additionally, the company is actively positioning in Class III medical device products.
For Giant Bio, whose growth rate has already slowed in the first half, defending the recombinant collagen market necessitates achieving a breakthrough from "zero" in the medical aesthetics field. According to statistics, Giant Bio currently does not hold registration certificates for Class III medical device injection products for medical aesthetics.
Giant Bio stated in its prospectus that it has four recombinant collagen Class III medical devices under development, expected to obtain Class III medical device registration certificates in 2024-2025. According to reports, in August this year, Giant Bio's Class III medical device "recombinant collagen implant" marketing application has been accepted by the National Medical Products Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation.
Pharmaceutical industry analyst Zhu Mingjun stated that the game rules of the medical aesthetics industry have completely changed. Future competition will be comprehensive competition involving R&D capabilities, patent layout, and compliant market entry. For all market participants, only by focusing resources on underlying technology R&D and building insurmountable technical barriers can they truly navigate cycles and become leaders after the industry's new round of consolidation.
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