Sansheng Guojian: As 2.8 billion in net profit is recognized, the company's self-driven "second curve" as a leader is just beginning.

In 2025, China’s domestically developed innovative drugs have reached the “results speak for themselves” era. Sansure Biotech (688336.SH) turned in a truly “phenomenon-level” annual report: operating revenue of CNY 4.2 billion, up 251.81%; net profit attributable to shareholders of CNY 2.9 billion, up 311.5%; and non-GAAP net profit attributable to shareholders of CNY 2.77 billion, soaring 1025% year over year.

The core driver behind these results comes from a record-breaking BD deal—In May 2025, Sansure Biotech and its related party Sansure Biopharma entered into a licensing agreement with Pfizer for the PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody SSGJ-707. The upfront payment was USD 1.4 billion, with a potential total transaction value exceeding USD 6 billion. Of that, Sansure Biotech distributed 30%, and has already recognized upfront payment revenue of approximately CNY 2.8 billion.

With CNY 2.8 billion in “pure profit” booked, Sansure Biotech’s growth trajectory has been fundamentally rewritten. But if we set aside this windfall, what we need to ask is: has the company’s fundamentals undergone a structural transformation? Can it support a long-term valuation?

Fundamentals are being redefined by new immunology drugs

In 2025, the dense wave of approvals for Sansure Biotech’s immunology drugs has already begun, and a new round of growth is quietly taking shape.

In February 2026, the 608 program (anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibody; brand name Yisaituo®/Anmuqita monoclonal antibody) was approved for market, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. This is Sansure Biotech’s first approved monoclonal antibody targeting an interleukin it developed independently, and also a major player in China’s IL-17A monoclonal antibody sector. The NDA for the 611 program (anti-IL-4Rα monoclonal antibody), targeting adult moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, was accepted in February 2026; the NDA for the 613 program (anti-IL-1β monoclonal antibody), targeting acute gouty arthritis, was accepted in June 2025. This means that between 2026 and 2027, Sansure Biotech will see three immunology new drugs launch in a concentrated period.

More meaningful still is the early-stage pipeline lineup, which this time also reveals its mystery. It includes multiple high-value targets and molecular types, such as: the recombinant anti-OX40L/IL-31RA bispecific antibody injection (R&D code: 716), the CD3/CD19/BCMA humanized trispecific antibody (R&D code: 717), the recombinant anti-TL1A/IL-23 bispecific antibody injection (R&D code: 718), the IL-4R/TSLP bispecific antibody inhalation (R&D code: 719), the IL-23R oral polypeptide (R&D code: 629), and more.

Overall, the R&D pipeline disclosed in this annual report—built on a strategic foundation focused on immunology—also shows more details and ingenuity. It not only balances innovation of targets with druggability, but also more precisely targets pain points where large-molecule drugs face inconvenience for patient use and low adherence. The product categories extend from mainstream monoclonals and bispecifics to more differentiated lines such as oral polypeptides and inhaled antibodies, addressing a broader range of market needs. In terms of development strategy, for core high-potential products, the company continues with the dual-track clinical registration route in both the US and China, laying groundwork for potential entry into international markets. Finally, clinical studies take the baton, bringing patients practical and effective treatment options through solid scientific data and flexible dosing regimens.

With each step tightly connected, the key pieces of the future product market competitiveness are rapidly being assembled on the R&D side.

The value of an integrated R&D-production-sales model keeps rising

In the innovative drug industry, BD deals are often viewed as the end point of “turning technology into value.” But for Sansure Biotech, exporting 707 looks more like realizing the capabilities built over more than 20 years of integrated R&D, production, and sales.

On the R&D side, Sansure Biotech has an in-house intellectual property CLF2 bispecific antibody patent platform, which serves as the technical foundation for 707. In recent years, the company has kept increasing R&D investment: in 2025, R&D expenses were CNY 430 million, up 22%. Sustained high-intensity investment has supported the simultaneous advancement of 23 immunology clinical programs.

On the production side, the company built, more than 10 years ago, what was then China’s largest 30k-liter commercial antibody drug production line. Currently, the total scale of bioreactors exceeds 40k liters, and in addition there is a new generation capacity boost formed by the parent company’s expansion. This large-scale commercial production capability is the underlying trust that makes MNCs willing to pay hefty upfront payments—because they are not only buying the molecule, but also a production system assurance that can ramp up quickly.

On the sales side, through more than 20 years of market cultivation, Sansure Biotech has established a specialized sales network covering the entire country—this is the most valuable commercialization foundation for its subsequent products such as IL-17A, IL-4Rα, and IL-1β.

Judging from its development history, this integrated strength in R&D, production, and sales previously gave Sansure Biotech a solid base for profitability. Looking ahead, the industry has increasingly come to recognize that in the new stage when innovative drugs move into the commercial track, this advantage has become a necessary condition for Biotech to upgrade into Biopharma. It will help safeguard the efficient conversion of future R&D achievements and support a sustained climb in business performance.

A wave of value transformation has arrived in the innovative drug industry

In line with Sansure Biotech’s deep focus on immunology, China’s immunology drug market has seen strong growth in recent years. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, the domestic immunology drug market size in 2024 reached USD 4.6 billion, with a CAGR of 15.9% from 2020 to 2024. Looking forward, the market is expected to continue expanding rapidly, reaching an estimated USD 35.2 billion by 2034.

Meanwhile, the innovative drug industry is also undergoing a profound transformation in value. Recently, the Shanghai Stock Exchange disclosed a set of figures: 28 innovative drug companies on the STAR Market collectively generated operating revenue of about CNY 74 billion in fiscal year 2025, up nearly 30%, setting a record high; net profit attributable to shareholders was about CNY 1.6 billion, achieving an overall turnaround into profitability. This is the first time that innovative drug companies on the STAR Market have achieved sector-level profitability, signaling that China’s innovative drug industry has officially entered a rational prosperity cycle of “value realization,” moving from the barbaric growth stage of “burning money to buy the future.”

While many innovative drug peers are cheering as they achieve profitability for the first time, Sansure Biotech, already leading the way, has quietly completed a generational shift in its blood-making capabilities. This confirms a fact: companies with a global outlook, efficient R&D-to-translation capabilities, and sustainable cash flows are once again establishing leading advantages amid this round of differentiation.

Conclusion

Sansure Biotech’s 2025 is a snapshot of China’s innovative drug industry moving from “me-too” toward “global best-in-class.”

When the market is still worried about intensifying competition in the immunology track, Sansure Biotech proves the value of its differentiated strategy with clinical data and a matrix of high-potential targets. When the industry is still questioning the transformation ability of legacy pharmaceutical companies, the CNY 2.8 billion upfront payment revenue and a 1025% growth rate in non-GAAP net profit provide the strongest response. When capital is still watching and assessing valuation prospects, the company has already demonstrated its confidence with a dividend-plus-convertible note plan filled with sincerity.

Amid the cyclical undercurrents in innovative drugs, those who focus will ultimately receive the gift of time. When the matrix-style surge of interleukin-targeting monoclonal antibodies meets MNC’s global endorsement, this legacy antibody company’s “second curve” is turning into a “first growth engine.”

CIS

A vast amount of information and precise analysis—available in the Sina Finance APP