According to reports, the Hong Kong-based innovative pharmaceutical company EVEREST MED (01952) held a strategic investor communication meeting on October 21. Key members of the management team attended, including Honorary Chairman Fu Wei, Chairman and Executive Director Wu Yifang, Executive Director and CEO Luo Yongqing, as well as Executive Director, President, and CFO He Ying. They provided a systematic overview of the company's recent strategic planning, research and development progress, and medium- to long-term development blueprint. Newly appointed Chairman Wu Yifang made his first appearance at the meeting, where he will guide the board in formulating the strategic direction of the company and provide strategic guidance to the executive team. This includes implementing key strategic initiatives, covering strategic transactions, research and development innovation, and stakeholder management, enhancing management and operational efficiency while advancing the company's global layout and driving further innovation drug development.
The meeting also revealed that the major shareholder of EVEREST MED, Kangqiao Capital, will not reduce its stake in the company in the short term, expressing strong confidence in the company's strategic prospects and long-term value. This assurance reinforces the stability of the company's shareholder structure and boosts market confidence.
During this strategic communication meeting, EVEREST MED's next phase of strategic priorities was confirmed. Under the "dual-drive" strategy, the company aims to enrich its product pipeline through independent research and development, licensing, acquisitions, and capital empowerment, maximizing commercial value. The company will also accelerate its self-developed products' internationalization and global presence to benefit more patients and strives to become a leading global integrated biopharmaceutical company.
Currently, EVEREST MED's product pipeline in key therapeutic areas, such as nephrology, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases, has entered a critical harvest period. Nai Fu Kang® and Yi Jia® have established sustainable commercialization capabilities, while Wei Shi Ping® (Aicromod) is expected to become the next major product for the company, driving a new wave of growth. According to the company's latest data, from January to September 2025, Nai Fu Kang® achieved nearly RMB 1 billion in sales revenue. Following the mid-year performance announcement, the company again estimates Nai Fu Kang's full-year sales performance to reach RMB 1.2 to 1.4 billion, with a target of RMB 2.4 to 2.6 billion in 2026, maintaining rapid growth.
In independent R&D, the company relies on its leading mRNA therapeutic vaccine platform and autologous CAR-T platform to solidify its technical barriers while actively positioning itself in high-growth blue ocean fields such as ophthalmology, thereby opening new growth avenues for medium- to long-term development. The next-generation covalent reversible BTK inhibitor EVER001 (Xibutine) has demonstrated rapid, profound, and durable immunological and clinical responses in 52-week data. Patients continued to benefit even after discontinuation of treatment, with some maintaining good effects for up to 104 weeks in extended follow-ups, highlighting EVER001's high safety and strong tolerability. The project has completed clinical proof of concept (POC) and is planned to start key pivotal clinical trials and Phase II basket studies (including IgAN, FSGS, MCD) in 2026. At the same time, the company's autologous CAR-T project has completed preclinical proof of concept in non-human primate (NHP) models and is set to initiate human clinical studies (FIH) before the end of 2025, with plans to submit a global IND and launch multiple investigator-initiated trials (IIT) in 2026.
Looking ahead, the company plans to introduce more than three high-impact products in the next 6 to 12 months. The potential domestic sales peak of these new products is expected to exceed RMB 10 billion, and combined with the existing product matrix, total domestic sales peaks are anticipated to surpass RMB 20 billion.
In strategic cooperation with I-Mab: Leveraging VIS-101 as a cooperation model to introduce more products. Notably, I-Mab recently announced the introduction of VIS-101, a treatment for retinal diseases, and signed a letter of intent for collaboration with EVEREST MED in Greater China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. As the largest shareholder of I-Mab, EVEREST MED will use this partnership as a starting point to strengthen collaborative efforts in innovative R&D and international development, exploring more high-potential asset collaboration opportunities.
VIS-101 is an innovative bispecific molecule targeting VEGF-A and ANG2, with stronger molecular activity and the potential to provide longer-lasting effects compared to existing standard therapies for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), and retinal vein occlusion (RVO). Currently, VIS-101 has completed preliminary safety and dose escalation studies in the US and China, and a Phase II randomized dose-ranging study has been finalized in China, with expectations to commence Phase III trials by 2026.
The global anti-VEGF ophthalmic drug market presents significant opportunities, with an estimated size of approximately USD 23 billion in 2024 and projected to exceed USD 40 billion by 2030, making the outlook for innovative therapies promising. Against this backdrop, EVEREST MED officially enters the high-growth ophthalmology sector through the introduction of VIS-101, further expanding its positioning in core therapeutic areas and creating strategic synergies with existing pipelines in nephrology, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases, thereby maximizing value through its robust commercialization platform.
In the future, both parties will fully leverage clinical development resources to accelerate the simultaneous development of VIS-101 in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States, enhancing R&D efficiency and global advancement speed. Using VIS-101 as the cooperation model, EVEREST MED will actively explore collaborative opportunities for expanding more innovative assets in other high-potential therapeutic areas with I-Mab, continually strengthening its comprehensive competitiveness and strategic layout in the global innovative pharmaceutical field.
Industry analysts indicate that this meeting comprehensively showcased EVEREST MED's systematic progress in capital empowerment, innovative breakthroughs, and global layout. As core pipelines enter a value realization phase, coupled with continuous strengthening of R&D platforms, the company’s competitiveness in the global innovative drug space is poised to further enhance, steadily progressing towards its goal of becoming a globally leading integrated biopharmaceutical enterprise.
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