Qilu Pharmaceutical Breaks Through with Three New Drugs, Tapping into a RMB 1.2 Trillion Market

Recently, Qilu Pharmaceutical has been receiving continuous good news in new drug development. The chemical drug of category 2.2, Brexpiprazole Oral Soluble Film, has been approved for marketing, and the biologic drug of category 1, QLH2405 Injection and QLS5308 for Injection, have been approved for clinical trials. In 2024, in China's three major terminals and six major markets, the market size of chemical drugs + biologic drugs reached over 1.2 trillion yuan. In Q1-Q3 of 2025, Qilu Pharmaceutical ranked as one of the TOP6 groups (Tier 1).

Brexpiprazole is a globally leading third-generation antipsychotic drug, jointly developed by Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical and Denmark's Lundbeck. The original product had global sales exceeding 2 billion US dollars in 2024.

Data from Menet shows that Qilu Pharmaceutical has successively obtained approval for three products related to Brexpiprazole, among which Brexpiprazole Orally Disintegrating Tablets are the first domestically produced generic version in China, and Brexpiprazole Oral Soluble Film is an improved new drug, currently being the exclusive product.

QLH2405 Injection, a Class 1 biological new drug, targets the mild cognitive impairment stage in the early development of Alzheimer's disease, aiming to explore new approaches to delay disease progression from the source. Qilu Pharmaceutical stated that the approval of this new drug for clinical trials marks a further expansion of the company’s R&D pipeline in the field of central nervous system (CNS) diseases.

QLS5308 for Injection, a Class 1 biological new drug, is an innovative ADC drug. Preclinical studies have shown that this new drug exhibits good anti-tumor activity and safety characteristics in multiple solid tumor models. Qilu Pharmaceutical stated that this new drug represents another significant advancement in the ADC field following the entry of projects such as QLS5132, QLC5508, QLS5133, and QLS5316 into clinical trials.

From 2021 to 2024 in China's three major terminals and six major markets (the statistical scope is described at the end of the article), the sales scale of chemical drugs + biologics has remained at the 1.2 trillion yuan level, with slight declines of 1.20% and 0.30% over the past two years; the situation is relatively stable.

From Q1 to Q3 of 2025, Qilu Pharmaceutical rose to become the TOP6 group (Tier 1) in the chemical drugs + biologics sector, with its market share increasing from 1.42% in 2019 to 2.03% in Q1-Q3 of 2025. Currently, Qilu Pharmaceutical’s best-selling products in the chemical drugs + biologics market include Bevacizumab Injection and Pegylated Recombinant Human Granulocyte Stimulating Factor Injection, which generated sales of 4 billion yuan and 1 billion yuan respectively in Q1-Q3 of 2025.

Qilu Pharmaceutical's biologic drug, Aipaloli Tovorolizumab Injection, was approved in 2024, and its chemical drug, Ilualik Tablets, was approved in 2023. In Q1-Q3 of 2025, in China's three major terminals and six major markets, the sales of these two new drugs surged by 837.35% and 134.98%, respectively. The company’s newly launched drugs have gained high market recognition, continuously enhancing the company’s market competitiveness, with a promising future ahead.