On the evening of January 15, 2026, Chengdu Sheng Nuo Biotec Co.,Ltd. (SH:688117, hereinafter referred to as "Sheng Nuo Biotec") released its 2025 annual performance forecast. The data indicates that the company expects to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of 152 million to 190 million yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 204.42% to 280.53%; the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is projected to be 149 million to 186 million yuan, a surge of 226.07% to 307.58% compared to the previous year.
Sheng Nuo Biotec explicitly attributed this performance growth to two core factors: the concentrated commissioning of production capacity under construction and the sustained surge in order demand for its peptide active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank (Beijing) Information Consulting Co., Ltd., commented that the domestic peptide API industry is currently in a critical transitional phase from a growth stage to maturity. The global explosion in popularity of GLP-1 class drugs has driven a sharp increase in demand for upstream peptide synthesis; coupled with China's cost advantages in chemical synthesis and solid-phase synthesis technologies, the industry as a whole is experiencing structural dividends.
The performance growth of Sheng Nuo Biotec is a concrete manifestation of this global industry trend. The breakthrough of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss indications has been the key factor igniting the global market, propelling their demand from medical settings into the consumer market.
Forecast data from Frost & Sullivan suggests that the global market size for GLP-1 drugs is expected to grow from $96 billion in 2025 to $141.9 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 8% during this period, indicating immense market growth potential. More notably, the indications for GLP-1 drugs are continuously expanding into multiple areas—from initial diabetes treatment, to proven efficacy in weight loss and cardiovascular protection, and further to potential applications in major diseases like chronic kidney disease and Alzheimer's. Each breakthrough in indications is expected to trigger a new wave of surging demand.
The robust terminal demand has transmitted upstream, driving peptide API demand ever higher, and Sheng Nuo Biotec is a key participant in this industrial chain. The company's core product, Semaglutide API, successfully obtained a DMF filing with the U.S. FDA in 2024, clearing a critical regulatory hurdle for the large-scale entry of its products into overseas markets. Sheng Nuo Biotec explicitly mentioned in its 2025 interim report that the significant growth in operating revenue and net profit during the period was primarily attributable to a substantial increase in overseas sales of Semaglutide API and Tirzepatide API.
In stark contrast to the booming demand, supply-side capacity bottlenecks are difficult to alleviate in the short term. The solid-phase peptide synthesis process used for GLP-1 drugs is complex, and the construction cycle for new capacity typically takes 2 to 3 years, preventing the industry from rapidly increasing supply in the near term and highlighting the supply-demand imbalance.
Established in 2001, Sheng Nuo Biotec has long focused on peptide APIs and peptide drug CDMO services, allowing it to fully benefit from this wave. In 2025, several of the company's key capacity projects were commissioned intensively: by the end of the third quarter, the "Production Line Project with an Annual Output of 395 kg of Peptide APIs" built with raised funds had officially commenced production, and the "Preparation Industrialization Technical Transformation Project" reached its intended usable state; the API workshops 106, 107, and 108, built with the company's own funds, also successively began operations. In October of the same year, the "Industrialization Base Project for Peptide APIs including Semaglutide and Tirzepatide" officially broke ground. Upon completion, the company's total peptide API capacity will increase to over 10 tons per annum.
However, it is noteworthy that if the industry's supply-demand dynamics reverse in the future, the company may face risks of insufficient capacity utilization. A framework contract for GLP-1 peptide APIs, disclosed by Sheng Nuo Biotec in September 2024 with a value not exceeding 350 million yuan, did not result in actual orders due to delays in the end client's commercialization progress, also reflecting the uncertainties of industry and client dependency.
Jiang Han further analyzed that the high-growth industry track is attracting substantial capital inflows, and competitors are accelerating capacity expansion. He suggested that the industry might experience a phase of overcapacity within the next 1 to 2 years, leading to intensified price competition.
It is understood that leading domestic CDMO companies such as WuXi AppTec and Asymchem have also accelerated their布局 in the peptide API field, continuously heating up industry competition pressure. Furthermore, significant price reductions for Eli Lilly's Tirzepatide and Novo Nordisk's Semaglutide will gradually transmit upstream to API manufacturers, compressing the overall profit margin of the industry. Since its establishment, Sheng Nuo Biotec has consistently focused on the peptide drug sector. Its business scope encompasses the R&D and production of peptide APIs, customized CDMO services, and preparation sales, covering therapeutic areas including anti-infectives, endocrinology, obstetrics, and rare diseases. Its products have been successfully exported to overseas markets such as Europe, America, and South Korea.
From an income structure perspective, APIs and intermediates remain the core of Sheng Nuo Biotec's business. Data from the 2025 interim report shows that APIs are the company's core growth engine, achieving revenue of 189 million yuan during the period, a substantial year-on-year increase of 232.01%, driven mainly by explosive growth in overseas sales of Semaglutide and Tirzepatide APIs. Accompanying the high revenue growth was a synchronous rise in costs, with the operating cost for this segment increasing by 239.52% year-on-year to 65.4302 million yuan.
The company stated that it currently has 21 self-developed peptide API varieties, 11 of which have obtained DMF filings with the U.S. FDA and are in an active status. It has established stable cooperative relationships with internationally renowned pharmaceutical companies such as Fresenius and Masung. The global registration布局 provides solid support for the sustained growth of this segment. However, the company's board secretary office also indicated that the current international partners are all generic drug companies and do not involve originator drug companies.
In contrast to the high prosperity of the API segment, the preparation segment is under pressure due to the impact of volume-based procurement policies. In the first half of 2025, affected by procurement policies, the preparation segment achieved revenue of 84.7242 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.41%. The customized services segment realized revenue of 59.8843 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.38%. Currently, Sheng Nuo Biotec provides pharmaceutical research and customized production services for peptide innovative drugs to over 40 new drug R&D enterprises, including Frontier Biotechnologies and Bio-Thera Solutions. As of the first half of 2025, 2 serviced varieties have been approved for marketing, 2 are in the production application stage, and several projects are in key clinical trial stages. As clients' innovative drugs achieve commercialization, this segment has strong expectations for order volume growth.
Overall, the high performance growth of Sheng Nuo Biotec in 2025 is the result of precisely capturing the opportunities in the global GLP-1 supply chain, exhibiting clear cyclical and structural characteristics. In the short term, capacity release and the fulfillment of overseas orders have indeed brought substantial financial returns to the company; but from a medium to long-term perspective, how to reduce reliance on single products and clients, accelerate the transformation of the preparation business, and effectively cope with increasingly fierce industry competition will be the key factors determining whether the company can achieve sustainable growth.
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