On August 27, Hansoh Pharma released its 2024 interim financial report. In the first half of the year, Hansoh Pharma achieved revenue of approximately RMB 6.506 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of about 44.2%. Net profit was approximately RMB 2.726 billion, a year-on-year increase of 111.5%; basic earnings per share were approximately RMB 0.46, a year-on-year increase of about 111.4%, with a dividend per share of 20.10 Hong Kong cents.
During the reporting period, the performance of Hansoh Pharma's innovative drugs and collaboration products reached approximately RMB 50.32 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of about 80.6%, with the proportion of revenue rising to 77.4%; R&D expenditure was approximately RMB 11.96 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of about 28.7%.
In addition, Hansoh Pharma has introduced a total of 11 cooperation projects, with 9 in the clinical stage and 2 entering the commercialization stage. Furthermore, Hansoh Pharma has made breakthroughs in seeking external licensing for its proprietary pipeline products, having completed 2 external licensing agreements. Notably, HS-20093 (B7-H3 ADC), an investigational product licensed to GSK by Hansohn Pharma for overseas development, was recently granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. FDA.
From the financial report, it can be seen that in the first half of 2024, Hansoh Pharma continued to make efforts in innovative drug research and development, commercialization, and corporate operations, further strengthening its focus on the dual-driven strategy of "independent research and development + external cooperation."
In this regard, a pharmaceutical analyst from a securities firm told the 21st Century Business Herald that against the backdrop of increasingly fierce global pharmaceutical market competition, many innovative drug companies are choosing to enter the international market to gain more development opportunities and market share. At the same time, multinational pharmaceutical companies acquiring or partnering for new technologies and products is also one of the key strategies to enhance market competitiveness.
"Such market attitudes and behaviors are reasonable actions taken by all parties to achieve strategic goals in the current globalized pharmaceutical industry environment," the aforementioned analyst said.
Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies Accelerate Innovation
According to the financial report data, as of June 2024, Hansoh Pharma's seven marketed innovative drugs, including Almonertinib (Ameile®), Flumatinib (Haosen Xinfu®), PEGloptin (Fulaimi®), Ravidasvir (Hengmu®), Inebilizumab (Xinyue®), Olverembatinib (Shengluolai®), and Milnacipran (Mailingda®), along with their corresponding nine indications, have all been included in the National Medical Insurance Catalog.
Based on the current market layout, in the first half of 2024, the revenue from Hansoh Pharma's innovative drugs and collaborative products reached approximately RMB 5.032 billion, increasing by about 80.6% year-on-year, and the proportion of total revenue rose to 77.4%.
By therapeutic area, during the reporting period, Hansoh Pharma recorded revenues of approximately RMB 4.475 billion, RMB 701 million, RMB 733 million, and RMB 597 million in the oncology, anti-infective, central nervous system, and metabolic diseases as well as other therapeutic areas, respectively, accounting for approximately 68.8%, 10.8%, 11.3%, and 9.1% of total revenue.
It is not difficult to find that the oncology field remains the core advantage area of Hansoh Pharma. According to public information, the New Drug Application (NDA) for the third and fourth indications (adjuvant treatment for NSCLC, maintenance therapy for Stage III unresectable NSCLC patients after concurrent chemoradiotherapy) of Hansoh Pharma's self-developed first China-originated third-generation EGFR-TKI, Almonertinib (brand name: Almelex®), were successively accepted by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). Previously, Almonertinib had already been approved as a second-line treatment for EGFR T790M+ advanced NSCLC and as a first-line treatment for EGFR+ advanced NSCLC, with both indications being the first approvals in China.
The oncology field has always been a key area for the layout of pharmaceutical companies in China and abroad. According to IQVIA analysis, emerging biopharmaceutical companies (companies with annual sales below 500 million USD and R&D expenditure below 200 million USD) accounted for 60% of the oncology pipeline in 2023, nearly doubling from 33% in 2014. The share of large pharmaceutical companies (companies with annual sales exceeding 10 billion USD) in the oncology pipeline has declined, accounting for 28% of all trials, down from 59% in 2014.
However, the investment layout of China's innovative pharmaceutical companies in the oncology field has been relatively stable. In the past two years, the number of oncology clinical trial initiations has decreased by 9%, with trials from emerging biopharmaceutical companies maintaining steady growth, while those from large pharmaceutical companies have dropped by 20%.
Besides tumors, according to financial reports, Hansoh Pharma's self-developed Fulaimei®, the world’s first PEGylated GLP-1RA weekly formulation, has made significant progress in the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Clinical data shows that Fulaimei® has a significant effect in lowering blood glucose, reducing urinary protein, and improving renal function, with notable improvements observed in patients' fasting blood glucose, weight, blood pressure, and lipid-related indicators. This is also considered a new growth area that Hansoh is rapidly expanding into.
Accelerating BD Cooperation Becomes a Trend
While focusing on innovative layout, accelerating BD cooperation has also become a key focus for Hansoh Pharma in the first half of this year.
According to the financial report, Hansoh Pharma strengthened independent research and development while collaborating with external partners in 2024. The company continued to deepen its presence in the oncology sector and accelerated its expansion into anti-infective, central nervous system, metabolic, and autoimmune fields.
According to incomplete statistics by reporters from the 21st Century Business Herald, in 2024, Hansoh Pharma reached multiple BD collaborations to accelerate the clinical research and market promotion of innovative drugs. During the reporting period, in March, it expanded cooperation with Pumios regarding the HS-20117 (EGFR/c-Met ADC) drug within the global cooperation region; in April, it collaborated with Quanxin Biotech to develop and commercialize the HS-20137 monoclonal antibody in China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan); in August, it acquired the rights for non-oncology indications of LP-168 (BTKi) from Lupeng Pharma in China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). In addition, Hansoh Pharma is actively exploring out-licensing opportunities for its proprietary pipeline products and has granted GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) exclusive overseas licensing rights for HS-20089 (B7-H4 ADC) and HS-20093 (B7-H3 ADC).
Why are innovative pharmaceutical companies focusing more on BD collaborations in recent years? In response, the aforementioned analyst told the 21st Century Business Herald that the increase in BD deals is a positive signal, reflecting the growing speed of innovation and the rising competitiveness of clinical value in China, which has gained more recognition from multinational pharmaceutical companies.
"BD is not merely a reluctant choice for biotech companies lacking the funds or talent to build their own commercialization teams. For biotech companies, BD collaboration is one of the primary development models," the aforementioned analyst pointed out. After studying 1,000 biotech companies globally, it was found that 203 of them have products in the commercialization stage (the remaining 797 companies’ products are still in preclinical or clinical development stages). Among these 203 biotech companies, only 67 have established their own commercialization teams (including 24 that have built teams across multiple regions such as the U.S., Europe, and Asia), while the remaining 136 biotech companies achieved product commercialization through out-licensing deals.
"Biotech companies and biopharma companies have different value chain layouts and core competencies, which can maximize value creation across the entire industry. For biotech companies, building their own commercial teams or production bases is not the default option. In most cases, due to limitations in portfolio scale and experience, establishing their own commercial marketing and production capabilities might be a less efficient choice," the analyst further stated.
However, it is also important to note that if, after considering the path of external collaboration, a biotech company chooses to drive commercialization on its own, apart from building a team by recruiting leading talents in related fields, it should make full use of technology and digital empowerment.
The aforementioned analyst emphasized that, in traditional large pharmaceutical enterprises, promoting digital empowerment for omnichannel marketing is a complex "project." However, some leading companies have already begun to see the business results of this transformation. If biotech companies are determined to commercialize on their own, they need to make full use of artificial intelligence and digital solutions to more efficiently and precisely deliver information about innovative products to doctors.