Against the backdrop of a surging wave of out-licensing for innovative drugs in China, Inventisbio Co.,Ltd., which has been listed on the STAR Market for three years, has formally submitted a main board listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CITIC Securities acting as the sole sponsor.
Disclosures show that Inventisbio focuses on R&D in the fields of oncology, metabolism, and autoimmune diseases. By out-licensing its core products to leading companies such as Beta Pharma and Chia Tai Tianqing, the company has rapidly achieved product commercialization and inclusion in the national reimbursement drug list (NRDL). However, a review of the prospectus and related materials reveals that behind the glamorous licensing partnerships lie persistent difficulties in achieving profitability, prominent business model risks, questionable financing logic, and underlying corporate governance concerns.
The issue of receivables for Befotinine remains unresolved. On the business front, Inventisbio's commercialization path heavily relies on the License-out model. The company's only two marketed products—the third-generation EGFR inhibitor Befotinine and the KRAS G12C inhibitor Garsorasib—are not sold by its own sales team. Instead, they are exclusively licensed to Beta Pharma (covering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and Chia Tai Tianqing (mainland China), respectively.
In terms of performance data, this model has achieved some success. From 2023 to the first three quarters of 2025, the company's revenues were 186 million yuan, 169 million yuan, and 30.8935 million yuan, respectively, all derived from licensing collaborations.
Specifically, over 96% of the 2023 revenue came from a 180 million yuan R&D milestone payment for Befotinine; the revenue focus shifted in 2024 to a 151 million yuan milestone payment for Garsorasib; and the first three quarters of 2025 relied entirely on sales royalties from both products, achieving a 61.27% year-on-year growth due to volume increases following NRDL inclusion.
However, the company has yet to turn a profit. In 2023, 2024, and the first three quarters of 2025, its net profit attributable to shareholders was -284 million yuan, -240 million yuan, and -181 million yuan, respectively.
Simultaneously, the incident of Beta Pharma's overdue payment has highlighted issues such as the company's lack of control over the final commercialization pace and cash flow recovery of its products, and the significant impact that partners' operational conditions and willingness to fulfill contracts can have on its performance. According to the agreement, the approval of Befotinine for second-line and first-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer in 2023 triggered Beta Pharma's obligation to pay a total of 180 million yuan in milestone fees. Subsequently, however, Beta Pharma delayed payment citing its own funding arrangements, causing this payment to be overdue for nearly two years.
Although Inventisbio had already recognized this revenue in its accounts for 2023, the cash failed to materialize. Ultimately, in 2024, the company was forced to make a 10% bad debt provision, amounting to 18 million yuan, against this 180 million yuan receivable. It was not until December 26, 2025, that the company received 80 million yuan of this amount, with the remaining 100 million yuan still under negotiation.
Despite using 10 billion yuan in raised funds for wealth management, the company seeks another fundraising round; some senior executives terminated their concerted action agreement just before the share lock-up expiration. Financially, Inventisbio does not appear to be short of funds. In July 2022, the company listed on the STAR Market at 18.12 yuan per share, raising a net amount of 1.98 billion yuan. As of September 30, 2025, the company held 670 million yuan in cash and cash equivalents, 700 million yuan in time deposits, and 153 million yuan in financial assets measured at fair value, totaling a substantial 1.523 billion yuan in cash-like assets, with no bank borrowings. In terms of cash burn, the company's combined core expenditures for R&D, administration, and operating costs in 2024 amounted to only 440 million yuan.
Furthermore, as of the end of June 2025, 1 billion yuan from the previous STAR Market fundraising remained unused. To improve capital efficiency, the company's board approved the use of up to 1 billion yuan in idle raised funds for cash management. By the end of June 2025, the actual amount invested in wealth management products had already reached 761 million yuan.
With ample cash on its books, no short-term liquidity risk, and a significant amount of idle raised funds already allocated to wealth management, yet actively seeking to raise new capital, the rationale and necessity for Inventisbio's renewed fundraising efforts may warrant scrutiny.
Beyond commercial and financial risks, underlying corporate governance concerns at Inventisbio also merit attention. Information indicates the company's shareholding structure is showing a trend towards dispersion, and the original control arrangements have loosened. Specifically, the founders Wang Yaolin, Jiang Yueheng, and Dai Xing are all U.S. citizens. The three originally controlled approximately 28.58% of the shares collectively through a concerted action agreement, making them the controlling shareholders.
However, in July 2025, after this agreement expired, core senior executive Zhang Ling and their related parties chose not to renew it for personal reasons, and Wang Yaolin also opted not to renew for "administrative convenience." Following the termination of the concerted action, the combined shareholding of the three founders decreased to 27.26%. If the Hong Kong listing is successful, the controlling shareholders' stake will be further diluted.
Notably, this coincides with the company facing potential market pressure from a large-scale share lock-up expiration. According to announcements, a total of approximately 161 million shares (representing 27.79% of the total share capital) held by shareholders including Wang Yaolin, Jiang Yueheng, Dai Xing, and Zhang Ling are set to be released from lock-up on January 26, 2026.
According to the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Share Reductions by Listed Company Shareholders" and related supporting rules, concerted actors of major shareholders (typically referring to shareholders holding 5% or more) are treated the same as major shareholders regarding reduction regulations, regardless of whether their own shareholding reaches 5%. This means concerted actors must adhere to stricter reduction restrictions originally applicable only to major shareholders, such as disclosing reduction plans 15 trading days in advance.
The withdrawal of some senior executives from the concerted action agreement just before the lock-up expiration, coupled with the precedent set in 2025 where institutional shareholders including funds under Lilly Asia Ventures and ABA-Bio cumulatively reduced their holdings by over 25 million shares, cashing out more than 450 million yuan, raises questions about whether this move paves the way for subsequent share reductions.
Additionally, executive compensation has drawn attention. From 2023 to 2024, the total annual remuneration for the four individuals—Chairman Wang Yaolin, Vice President Zhang Ling, Dai Xing, and Jiang Yueheng—each exceeded 25 million yuan, placing it at the high end among domestic Biotech companies. This contrasts with the company's ongoing losses and its current inability to achieve self-sustaining operations. Balancing incentives for the core team with shareholder returns and the company's sustainable development is another governance issue that needs addressing.
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