Market Cap Returns to 100 Billion Yuan: Biokin Pharmaceutical Makes 'Critical Leap' Amid Share Surge on Favorable News

After years of grinding through the inevitable volatility that follows a blockbuster IPO, Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. finally got its moment of vindication.

On June 22, the Shanghai-listed drugmaker announced that China's National Medical Products Administration had approved lencovalonitomab — its homegrown, first-in-class EGFR×HER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate — for commercial sale. The news sent Biokin's shares surging 10.97% the next trading day, closing at 252.43 yuan (RMB) per share on June 23 and pushing the company's market capitalization back above the 100 billion yuan (RMB) threshold, settling at approximately 104.2 billion yuan (RMB).

The approval marks what industry watchers are calling the company's most consequential milestone since going public on the STAR Market in 2023 — a definitive pivot from its origins as a generic drug manufacturer into a bona fide innovator on the global biotech stage.

A Drug Years in the Making

Lencovalonitomab, also known by its code names BL-B01D1 and iza-bren, is no ordinary pipeline candidate. It is the only EGFR×HER3 bispecific ADC to have advanced into Phase III clinical trials — a distinction that has drawn attention from both regulators and investors alike.

The clinical footprint is substantial. Biokin has conducted more than 40 clinical trials across China and the United States spanning multiple tumor types, including 19 Phase III or Phase II/III studies. Regulatory agencies have taken notice: China's Center for Drug Evaluation has granted breakthrough therapy designation to seven indications and priority review status to two. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has separately awarded breakthrough therapy designation to one indication.

The drug is classified as a Class 1 therapeutic biological product — Biokin's first self-developed biologic to reach the market.

From Generic to Global

Founded in 1996, Biokin spent decades building the infrastructure of a conventional pharmaceutical company. Today it operates four production bases, two marketing subsidiaries, and two R&D centers, with a pipeline that spans small-molecule chemical drugs, large-molecule biologics, and antibody-drug conjugates.

The 2023 STAR Market listing unleashed a wave of investor enthusiasm. At its peak in early 2025, the company's market capitalization reached a historic high of 170.936 billion yuan (RMB). But the euphoria was short-lived. The stock entered a prolonged correction, at one point losing roughly half its value from the peak.

The June 23 rally — and the return to triple-digit billions in market value — signals that the market is willing to bet on the company's innovative drug ambitions once again.

The Road Ahead

"The approval of lencovalonitomab is a key milestone in Biokin's strategic transformation," one pharmaceutical industry analyst, Sun Yihan, said in an interview. "It further validates the company's innovative R&D capabilities and is expected to sustain the market's high-growth expectations."

But Sun also flagged the headwinds: the company remains in a heavy R&D spending phase, and meaningful profitability from commercialization will take time. The Bristol Myers Squibb partnership provides global commercial reach, which could make lencovalonitomab the company's core growth engine. Yet the early-stage marketing push, the pace of ongoing clinical trials, and a shifting competitive landscape remain variables that warrant close attention.

Biokin itself struck a cautious tone in its announcement. The company warned that drug sales remain subject to policy and market uncertainties, and urged investors to exercise caution.

For a company that has spent the better part of three decades remaking itself, the approval is the proof point it has been working toward. Whether it can translate a regulatory win into sustained commercial success is the question that will define Biokin's next chapter.