The most sought-after item in the pharmaceutical industry right now is not a new drug or high-end equipment, but a monkey. The price of a monkey has soared from under 100,000 yuan each last year to nearly 200,000 yuan each now, equivalent to the cost of an average family car. These monkeys are not yet sold, but on the evening of July 14, JOINN (06127), known as the A-share "monkey stock" due to its large monkey resources, released a performance forecast: its net profit attributable to the parent company for the first half of the year reached up to 900 million yuan, a year-on-year surge of 1,377%.
The surge in monkey prices has ignited the CRO (Contract Research Organization) and innovative drug sectors. On July 15, the CRO index saw a strong intraday rally, with leading companies like JOINN, WuXi AppTec, Pharmaron, and Medicilon hitting new four-year highs. Innovative drug stocks also rose in tandem, with companies like BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology, Dizal Pharmaceutical, and Asymchem hitting the 20% daily limit, while Hainan Haiyao, Harbin Medisan, Anglikang, and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group also hit the 10% limit. On July 16, the momentum continued, with the pharmaceutical sector remaining active. A brokerage analyst jokingly commented, "Stand in the monkey, not like a monkey standing there," which quickly went viral online. More surprisingly, this trend was not limited to the "monkey farm"; within days, stock price fluctuations spread to fruit and vegetable companies, Mount Emei tourism sites, and various "monkey concepts."
Is the recovery in innovative drugs real?
On the morning of July 17, the CRO concept sector declined, with JOINN hitting the daily limit down. However, this is not a simple story of random stock market fluctuations, but a typical "resource war" in the innovative drug supply chain.
Watch the pharmaceutical sector slump on July 17
On the evening of July 14, JOINN released a somewhat unusual semi-annual performance forecast for 2026. In the first half of the year, the company expects to achieve operating revenue of 669 million to 739 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0% to 10.5%, which is essentially flat. However, the net profit attributable to the parent company is expected to reach 600 million to 900 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 884.9% to 1,377.4%, potentially nearly 15 times higher than the same period last year. With revenue barely growing, why did profits surge by hundreds of millions? The answer lies in the "experimental monkeys" it keeps on its books: the profit surge is mainly due to the rise in monkey prices, not from orders and service revenue. JOINN estimates that the net profit contributed by changes in the fair value of biological assets in the first half was about 703 million to 777 million yuan. Excluding this impact, the company expects a net loss from laboratory services and other operations of about 142 million yuan to a profit of 64.9736 million yuan. It should be noted that these figures are preliminary estimates from the company's finance department and have not yet been audited.
Beijing JOINN Experimental Monkey Biological Asset Appreciation
In other words, the most prominent profit growth in this performance forecast mainly comes from the appreciation of biological assets like experimental monkeys. JOINN not only conducts preclinical trials for pharmaceutical companies but also breeds and raises experimental monkeys. These monkeys are recorded as "biological assets" on the financial statements. When the market price of experimental monkeys rises, or when young monkeys grow to an age suitable for experiments, the valuation of the company's monkey population also increases, and the increase may be recorded as current profit. This is similar to buying a house for 3 million yuan, and years later, the same property is worth 5 million yuan. The house is more valuable, and the owner's assets have increased, but as long as the house is not sold, the bank account does not automatically have an extra 2 million yuan. The same applies to the book profit from experimental monkeys. Therefore, JOINN's net profit increasing more than tenfold does not mean the company's orders, revenue, and core business profitability have also increased tenfold, nor does it mean the company's account has an equivalent increase in cash. Only when these monkey resources are utilized through future sales or experimental services can their value gradually be realized as operating income and cash flow.
Monkey resource utilization for future value realization
Conversely, just because it is "book profit" does not mean this change is just an accounting game detached from reality. Fair value does not increase significantly without reason. For a company to value its experimental monkeys higher, it usually requires support from real market purchase prices, transaction conditions, and supply-demand dynamics. In other words, the hundreds of millions in book profit, although not yet fully converted into cash, may be a reflection of real market changes on the financial statements. What is happening beyond the financial reports? Is the sudden rise in experimental monkey prices just an asset revaluation, or an early signal of a recovery in the innovative drug industry?
Why have monkeys become "money printers"?
Based on public procurement data, the surge in monkey prices is not a rumor. In March 2026, the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Sciences purchased 450 "five-negative" cynomolgus monkeys for 58.95 million yuan, averaging about 131,000 yuan each. By June, the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control purchased 40 cynomolgus monkeys at a winning bid unit price of 178,000 yuan. Another procurement budget of 7.6 million yuan for 40 monkeys, announced later, implied a budget unit price of 190,000 yuan. It is important to note that 190,000 yuan is the procurement budget, not the final transaction price. Unlike gold or crude oil, experimental monkeys do not have an industry-wide price list. Age, sex, weight, health status, pathogen test results, and delivery time all affect the final price. For example, the "five-negative" cynomolgus monkeys purchased by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica required exclusion of five specific pathogens and an age limit of 2.8 to 5 years. The market is not short of "monkeys" in general, but of sources that are compliant, healthy, age-appropriate, and can be delivered on schedule in batches. According to media interviews with some breeding institutions, some high-quality adult cynomolgus monkeys have been quoted over 200,000 yuan, and the supply of deliverable monkeys this year is also tight. This indicates that the price near 200,000 yuan is not a uniform market price but has become a realistic quote for some scarce monkey sources.
China Experimental Monkey Production and Demand
However, some ask, why can't pharmaceutical companies switch to cheaper mice if monkey prices are so high? First, not all new drugs require the use of experimental monkeys. The choice of animal depends on the drug's target and mechanism of action. For some antibody drugs, ADCs, small nucleic acids, and other highly targeted biologics, the key question is, "Can the drug work in this animal?" These drugs often need to first recognize a specific receptor or target in the human body, like a key fitting a lock. However, the "lock" present in humans may not exist in mice or rats, or its structure may be different. If a drug shows no reaction in mice, researchers cannot determine whether it is safe or simply because the drug did not recognize its target. Second, the internationally accepted ICH S6(R1) guideline requires that biologics be evaluated for safety in "relevant species" where the drug can truly work. The key criterion is not how similar the animal looks to humans, but whether it has the corresponding target and whether the drug can bind to it and produce a response. Non-human primates are closer to humans in terms of some receptor structures, immune systems, and physiological mechanisms. When mice, rats, or dogs are not the relevant species, cynomolgus monkeys may become one of the few animal models that can effectively evaluate drug safety. This is why experimental monkeys are difficult to replace entirely in the short term.
Non-human primate thoracic spine research, human-like walking and fine motor control
Demand is growing rapidly, but supply cannot keep pace. Demand comes from the recovery of innovative drug R&D. In 2025, the total number of registered drug clinical trials in China exceeded 5,000 for the first time, with 2,997 new drug clinical trials, an 18% increase year-on-year. Entering 2026, many CRO companies have seen a rapid increase in new orders. Clinical trials occur after animal testing, but the renewed activity in project pipelines will feed forward to preclinical stages, such as pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology, boosting demand for qualified monkey sources. Supply is constrained by biological laws. Cynomolgus monkeys typically have one offspring per pregnancy, and young monkeys need to grow for at least 3 years and undergo pathogen testing before entering some experimental projects. Meanwhile, domestic breeding populations also face issues like aging and long breeding cycles. During the previous period of high monkey prices, some monkey farms even sold their breeding stock, weakening future supply. From replenishing young breeding stock to their offspring being ready for experiments can take up to six or seven years. When chip prices rise, factories can add equipment and expand production lines. When monkey prices rise, there is no button to press to increase production. Because supply elasticity is so low, the price of experimental monkeys is not just the price of a special raw material; it is more like a pressure gauge at the front end of the innovative drug supply chain: when qualified monkey sources become more expensive and experimental slots start to fill up, it often means more R&D projects have entered the preclinical trial phase.
Watch the "Monkey Market" Approach
JOINN is the most direct beneficiary of this round of the market. After the release of the semi-annual forecast, the market quickly revalued the company based on the biological asset revaluation logic. On July 15, the company's A-share shares opened at the daily limit, then opened. However, fair value gains are not a one-way street. If monkey prices continue to rise, profits can be boosted. But if supply and demand reverse and monkey prices fall, the valuation of biological assets may also decrease, and previously recognized book gains may become a liability. It is worth noting that the capital market has extrapolated the asset revaluation of one company into a recovery for the entire preclinical CRO and innovative drug industry chain. The fulcrum of this extrapolation is that experimental monkeys are mainly used in preclinical studies of some drugs, and an increase in the price of qualified monkey sources may indicate that more projects are entering the efficacy, toxicology, and safety evaluation stages. Consequently, the market began buying CRO, innovative drug, and experimental animal model-related companies.
In a Suzhou laboratory on November 20, researchers extract mRNA
On July 15, the innovative drug and CRO sectors collectively strengthened, with many stocks hitting their daily limits. At the same time, previously strong technology sectors like semiconductors and computing power saw significant adjustments, and capital rotation from high to low also amplified the pharmaceutical sector's rally. Experimental monkeys are not the only catalyst for the innovative drug market. Previously, out-licensing deals for Chinese innovative drugs have been consistently active, and expectations for policy support for innovative drug payments and market access have improved. The rising monkey prices just provide a more intuitive entry point for the existing narrative of industry recovery. However, the rise in monkey prices does not mean all CROs will benefit simultaneously. Companies with significant in-house monkey resources can benefit from asset appreciation and have stronger scheduling and pricing power during shortages, while companies relying on external procurement will first face higher experimental costs. In its first-quarter earnings call in May this year, JOINN also noted that the rise in monkey prices has two sides: it leads to appreciation of biological assets but also increases the cost of purchasing experimental monkeys, putting pressure on the gross margin of the core business.
Watch a weak monkey in a zoo
When the market trend continues to spread, the industrial logic begins to loosen. On July 15, Honghui Fruit & Vegetable's shares hit the daily limit, with market explanations citing that the company sells bananas, which are "upstream" for monkeys. The company subsequently responded that its operations were normal, and the stock price fluctuation was mainly driven by secondary market trading factors. Mount Emei was a similar case; Emei Shan A's shares rose over 7% intraday, with the market connecting it to the monkeys in the scenic area, engaging in speculative trading. Whether bananas or monkeys in scenic areas, they have no actual industrial connection to the standardized experimental monkeys needed for drug testing. At this level, the market is no longer trading innovative drug orders or biological asset values but merely the associations triggered by the word "monkey".
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