Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Files for A+H Listing After Distributing RMB 7.8 Billion in Dividends

In September 2026, Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. submitted its IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Seventeen years have passed since the bell rang at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2009. Ye Chenghai, the 78-year-old founder of Salubris, has witnessed the company’s return to the capital market once again.

A prominent statement in Chapter 1 of the prospectus reads, “Since our listing on the A-share market in 2009, we have distributed cumulative dividends to shareholders exceeding RMB 7.8 billion, an amount more than twice the funds we raised from the A-share market.”

The funds we raised from the A-share market have long been repaid twofold. Our move to the Hong Kong stock market is not for debt repayment, but to play a bigger game.

To understand this game of chess, one must first get to know the players.

Ye Chenghai’s career trajectory stands out as unique among Chinese healthcare entrepreneurs. In 1963, he was admitted to Renmin University of China. Upon graduation, he was assigned to Bao’an County—the predecessor of Shenzhen—which at the time was a desolate border town.

With his steadfast diligence and exceptional decisiveness, Ye Chenghai rose from the grassroots level to become a member of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and the first Secretary of the Luohu District Party Committee. In 1983, at the age of 39, he was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen, making him one of the youngest deputy-provincial-level officials at the time.

In 1986, he resigned from his public-sector position to venture into business, borrowing money from friends and relatives to rent a modest factory space in Huanggang Village, where he established a silk garment factory and an electronics factory. In the following years, he traveled extensively across the United States and South America, engaging in businesses such as coke, real estate, and steel. He made numerous attempts and suffered significant losses along the way.

In 1989, he co-founded the Shenzhen Haibin Pharmaceutical Factory, formally establishing his foothold in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1998, Salubris Pharmaceuticals was established. Under his leadership, Salubris’ Taijia received approval, becoming China’s first generic version of clopidogrel, just one year later than the originator drug, Sanofi’s Plavix.

In 2009, Salubris listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, with Ye Chenghai personally ringing the listing bell. Today, Salubris is helmed by his son, Ye Yuxiang, while Ye Chenghai serves as Lifetime Honorary Chairman.

Ye Yuxiang joined Salubris in 2004 and officially assumed the role of Chairman in 2022. Upon taking office, he decisively eliminated dozens of low-end generic drug projects, including those in areas such as oncology biosimilars and antibiotics, concentrating resources on the company’s core strength in cardiorenal-metabolic (CKM) diseases. R&D investment grew steadily from approximately RMB 360 million in 2019 to RMB 1.266 billion in 2025, as reported in the annual financial statements for A-share listed companies.

Judging from the results, Ye Yuxiang’s strategic direction is clear. In 2025, Salubris’ revenue from innovative drugs reached RMB 1.999 billion, a year-on-year increase of 47.25%. Salubris has begun its transformation from a leading generic drug manufacturer to an innovative pharmaceutical company.

Salubris’ current product portfolio can be summarized by six products.

Salubris’ core product, Xintan, was approved in 2013 as China’s first independently developed angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) antihypertensive drug. In 2025, it captured a 29.1% share of the Chinese ARB market, ranking first, and placed third in the overall antihypertensive drug market. However, the compound patent for Xintan is set to expire in July 2026.

In other words, the exclusivity period for this blockbuster drug is nearing its end. Subsequently, generic drugs will flood the market, making a price war inevitable.

Salubris was evidently well-prepared, with three new approvals landing in quick succession from 2024 to 2025.

Fulitan, approved in 2024, is China’s first fixed-dose combination of an ARB and a CCB. In the highly concentrated market for combination antihypertensive drugs, it has captured a 3.8% share.

Xinchaotuo was approved in 2025 as China’s first independently developed angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNi) and the second such drug globally. ARNIs are regarded as the cornerstone of next-generation heart failure therapy, a field previously dominated solely by Novartis’ sacubitril/valsartan. Salubris has become the first Chinese company to successfully bring an ARNi to market.

Fulian, approved in 2025, is the world’s first fixed-dose combination of an ARB and a thiazide-like diuretic. Ennaro, approved in 2023, expanded its indications in 2025 and is China’s second HIF-PHI for renal anemia. The DPP-4 inhibitor Salubritin, approved in 2024, targets type 2 diabetes.

Timeline of Corporate Innovative Drug Approvals, Charted Based on Prospectus Data

The approval timelines of the six drugs, spanning from 2013 to 2025, demonstrate a clear acceleration trend. More importantly, their indications cover hypertension, heart failure, renal anemia, and diabetes—conditions that do not exist in isolation but represent distinct nodes within the cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome continuum.

From a technical perspective, Salubris has established five major drug technology platforms that comprehensively cover five molecular modalities: small molecules, antibodies (fusion proteins/ADCs), siRNA, cyclic peptides, and gene editing. Each platform is supported by corresponding pipelines in development, with a strategic focus on the chronic disease sector of cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) disorders.

Taking PCSK9, the most fiercely contested target in the lipid-lowering sector, as an example, while some Chinese companies have opted for small molecules and others for siRNA, Salubris has adopted a comprehensive strategy encompassing all modalities. Specifically, the marketing application for its monoclonal antibody SAL003 has been accepted by the NMPA; its small-molecule candidate SAL0139 is in Phase II clinical trials; its cyclic peptide SAL0167 and in vivo gene-editing therapy SAL061 are both in Phase I clinical trials; and its siRNA development plan has been clearly outlined in its prospectus.

Corporate Pipeline Portfolio, Source: Prospectus

Beyond pharmaceuticals, Salubris has also quietly expanded into the medical device sector.

Maurora, a rapamycin-eluting vertebral artery stent, is the world’s first approved drug-eluting stent for the vertebral artery. As of 2025, only two similar products had been approved in China, with Maurora capturing a market share of 69.9%.

CKM is a systemic, progressive disease cascade: hypertension damages blood vessels, dyslipidemia accelerates atherosclerosis, plaque rupture triggers thrombosis, ultimately leading to myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, and renal failure. From pharmacological management to stent intervention, Salubris aims to be involved in every stage of the patient journey.

This whole-disease-course coverage mindset is also reflected in the size of the R&D pipeline: 79 innovative drugs under development, 17 medical device products, and 18 device candidate projects.

Only by placing Salubris within the industry coordinate system can one truly grasp the weight of this strategic move.

Cardiorenal-Metabolic Syndrome (CKM) was formally defined as a systemic disease by the American Heart Association in 2023. By 2025, the global prevalence among adults had reached 88.9%. Nearly everyone has individuals around them suffering from hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or cardiovascular disease.

These diseases do not exist in isolation; rather, they mutually exacerbate one another, forming a progressive cascade leading to heart failure, renal failure, and death.

The growth rate of the Chinese market is faster than that of the global market. The market size for CKM drugs was approximately $89.8 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $139.6 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2%. Among these, the growth rates for CKD drugs, heart failure drugs, and metabolic disease drugs are 11.8%, 14.5%, and 18.4% respectively, all exceeding the global average.

CKM Drug Market Segmentation, Charted Based on Prospectus Data

Currently, the treatment rate for hypertension in China is 46%, with a control rate of only 17%. In the United States, these figures are 73% and 49%, respectively. A significant number of patients remain undiagnosed, and many of those diagnosed do not receive standardized treatment. This implies that market size calculations cannot simply apply European or American models.

Salubris’ competitive strategy is vertical focus. In terms of the number of CKM pipeline assets in China, Salubris ranks second with 19 assets, tied with another company. Unlike other pharmaceutical companies that pursue parallel development across multiple therapeutic areas, Salubris has placed nearly all its bets on CKM.

Focusing on the niche areas of hypertension and dyslipidemia, Salubris ranks first globally in the number of new molecular entity (NME) candidates at the IND stage or later. It is also one of the few platform-based pharmaceutical companies in China to have successfully developed both drug and medical device portfolios.

Salubris has consistently maintained positive operating cash flow. From 2023 to 2025, the figures were RMB 839 million, RMB 1.186 billion, and RMB 1.052 billion, respectively. Theoretically, the RMB 1.952 billion raised through the private placement in 2021 has not yet been fully utilized. Why, then, is the company choosing to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at this juncture?

One interpretation is that Salubris is seeking a new valuation framework.

From the perspective of revenue structure, Salubris reported revenues of RMB 3.37 billion, RMB 4.01 billion, and RMB 4.35 billion from 2023 to 2025. Focusing solely on the pharmaceutical segment, the proportion of innovative drug revenue in total pharmaceutical sales increased from 30.1% in 2023 to 52.1% in 2025, further rising to 54.8% in the first half of 2026. When all business lines, including medical devices and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), are included in the total revenue calculation, the share of innovative drugs in total revenue stood at 45.9% in 2025 and reached 49.0% in the first half of 2026.

Changes in Corporate Revenue Structure, Charted Based on Prospectus Data

If this trend continues, innovative drugs will become the primary revenue source by 2027 at the latest.

Yet, this performance has not translated into a biotech valuation in the A-share market. Investors in China’s A-shares exhibit inertial memory: for a company that built its foundation on generic drugs, the market-assigned price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio remains anchored to the range typical of generic drug manufacturers with some innovative drug business, even if revenue from innovative drugs approaches half of the total.

This valuation misalignment was amplified following the release of JK07’s clinical data in May 2026.

On May 10, 2026, Salubris released an announcement disclosing interim Phase II data for JK07 in the treatment of chronic heart failure. Across all dose groups, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) showed a trend toward improvement compared with the placebo group, although the differences between groups did not reach statistical significance.

The market focused only on the latter part of the statement, resulting in limit-down closes for two consecutive trading days. In the subsequent period, the stock’s maximum drawdown exceeded 40% at one point.

Within the valuation framework of the Hong Kong stock market, such setbacks are more likely to be categorized as normal risks associated with a single pipeline. Provided the overall pipeline depth is sufficient, a phased failure in a single Phase II trial will not destroy the company’s core value.

From 2023 to 2025, overseas revenue accounted for 2.7%, 3.2%, and 2.0% of total revenue, respectively. However, for biotech companies, the starting point for global expansion is the globalization of clinical development. Salubris Bio’s U.S. subsidiary was established in 2016, and multiple pipeline assets are currently undergoing clinical trials overseas.

In its pursuit of an H-share listing, Salubris seeks to determine the true value of its innovative drug pipeline.