The most anticipated financial event for the innovative pharmaceutical industry in 2025 is undoubtedly the historic turnaround of two biopharmaceuticals, BeiGene and Sinopharm, from losses to profits.

In 2025, BeiGene delivered a total revenue of 5.343 billion US dollars and a net profit of 287 million US dollars.

In the past, this company was once known as the "money burning brother", and its globally renowned R&D and massive commercialization team were questioned.

With BeiGene achieving full year profitability for the first time in 2025, this is not only a financial turning point for the company, but also the first time that Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies have successfully completed the global sample of "high investment research and development - global business harvesting - self generated coverage costs", marking the formation of a healthy positive cycle of "business success feeding back research and development, driving value".

If BeiGene provides a sample of a global enterprise, Xinda Biotech demonstrates a breakthrough in innovation and operational efficiency for a local pharmaceutical company.

According to the financial report, in 2025, Xinda Biotechnology's revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan for the first time, with a total annual revenue of 13.042 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.4%; The profit turned positive within the year, with a net profit of 814 million yuan, compared to a loss of 95 million yuan in the previous year.
 
At present, as the tumor track becomes increasingly red and red, the growth momentum of Xinda Biotechnology is undergoing structural changes: the product portfolio centered on PD-1 product Daboshu (Xindilimumab) is still the basic plate, while metabolic and cardiovascular (CVM) products represented by Masidopeptide are becoming an important source of new growth.

Yu Dechao, founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of Xinda Biotechnology, pointed out during the 2025 performance conference call that the company has shifted from a single driver of "tumors" to a dual driver of "tumors+chronic diseases", and the commercialization system has undergone a "qualitative change". The chronic disease field is gradually becoming a new source of growth.

While Biopharma such as Baekje and Sinopharm are making profits, Hengrui Pharmaceutical and China Biopharmaceutical have contributed to the benchmark samples of innovation and transformation of large domestic pharmaceutical companies. The massive growth of innovative products has become the core highlight of the two giants' performance in 2025.

The traditional first brother Hengrui Medicine is still as stable as Mount Tai: in 2025, it will achieve a revenue of 31.629 billion yuan and a net profit of 7.711 billion yuan, demonstrating the resilience of traditional big factories.

It is worth noting that the product structure is being optimized - innovative drugs with high profits are taking over. In 2025, Hengrui's innovative drug sales revenue will be 16.342 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.09%, accounting for 58.34% of the drug sales revenue, which was less than 40% three years ago.

Chinese biopharmaceuticals also highlight the high growth potential of innovation and the sustainability of performance growth. The continuous implementation of innovative achievements directly promotes the positive cycle of "dual improvement of income scale and quality" in the innovation of Zhongsheng.

According to the financial report, the revenue of innovative biopharmaceutical products in China will surpass 15 billion yuan in 2025, reaching 15.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.2%, significantly better than the industry average. Innovative products have grown into a fundamental support for performance.

In addition to the top companies mentioned above, there is also a group of biotech companies that have achieved continuous profitability and are expected to experience several fold profit growth by 2025.

Hehuang Pharmaceutical will reach a symbolic milestone in 2025: total revenue of 549 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 12.96%; But the profit attributable to its shareholders was $457 million, a year-on-year increase of 1111.03% from $37.7 million in 2024; Basic earnings per share of $0.53.

The decline in revenue and skyrocketing profits are mainly due to the sale of 45% equity of Shanghai Hehuang Pharmaceutical for $608 million in April 2025, resulting in nearly $416 million in after tax sales profits. If this one-time gain is excluded, the company will still have a profit of over $40 million in 2025, which is still an increase from $4 million in 2024.

Another company with a surge in profits is Sansheng Guojian. In 2025, this company delivered a stunning performance: annual revenue of 4.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 251%; Net profit of 2.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 311%; Deducting non recurring net profit of approximately 2.8 billion yuan, with an increase of over 1000%.

In 2025, domestic innovative drugs have entered the era of "speaking with results". Crossing the breakeven point is not only a turning point for numbers from negative to positive, but also a milestone for the underlying business logic of the enterprise to be validated by the market.

The starting point for all revenue and profit is the product. For innovative pharmaceutical companies, products are not only carriers of technological strength, but also a passport for the company to move from a "research and development story" to a "profit story".

A successful core product that can continuously contribute cash flow during the patent protection period, support subsequent pipeline research and development investment, and verify the company's clinical development, registration and commercialization capabilities.

The rhythm of mass production and lifecycle management of large products often determine the life, death, and ceiling of a biotech company - it is the first cornerstone for enterprises to move from burning money to making blood, and also the core basis for repricing in the capital market.

BeiGene's profitability report and core product - BTK inhibitor Zebutinib (trade name: Beiyue Ze) ®） The continuous increase in volume is directly related.

As the company's "cash cow" product, Zebutinib contributed over 70% of BeiGene's overall revenue. As of 2025, Baiyue Ze has been approved in over 75 markets worldwide, building a global business network covering the United States, Europe, and China.、

Zebutinib has grown into a global explosive, with global sales reaching approximately 3.928 billion US dollars by 2025, an increase of 48.6% compared to the previous year. Among them, the United States is the largest commercial market with sales of 2.8 billion US dollars, the European market has a total sales of 596 million US dollars, and China has a total sales of 344 million US dollars.

According to the full year data of 2025, the global BTK inhibitor market size is about 13.6 billion US dollars. Ibrutinib has declined to 5.692 billion US dollars, while Zebutinib has surpassed Acotinib's 3.518 billion US dollars at 3.929 billion US dollars, jumping to become the world's best-selling BTK inhibitor. This is not only a victory for BeiGene, but also a true reflection of "China's innovation, global payment".

Carvykti has also achieved great success in the global market. If Zebutinib has contributed a benchmark case for independent overseas expansion, Carvykti's success stems from the dual support of "excellent products+top MNC partners".

By 2025, Carvykti, a collaboration between Johnson&Johnson and Legendary Biotech, has surpassed other CAR-T therapies that were launched 4-5 years earlier to become the world's highest selling cell therapy. Its global sales reached $1.887 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 96%. It is expected that global sales in 2026 may reach $2.7-3 billion.

At present, Carvykti has been approved for multiple indications in the extremely crowded field of multiple myeloma in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China, establishing its dominant position in BCMA targets.

Not only Baekje and Legend, but upon closer inspection of every profitable or profitable enterprise, there is almost always at least one "flagship" standing behind it.

Xinda Biotech's PD-1 monoclonal antibody Xindilimumab in the field of oncology contributes approximately 4 billion yuan in stable cash flow annually; In the field of chronic diseases, the successful launch of GLP-1 product Masdoltide in 2025 is becoming a new driving engine for performance.

One of the key factors for Rongchang Biotechnology to turn losses into profits by 2025 is the rapid increase in domestic sales of its two core products, Taitacept and Vediximab. Taitacept's sales revenue in 2025 is about 1.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42%; The sales revenue of vediximab in 2025 is about 880 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.5%.

The revenue and profit growth of Elise also comes from the high sales volume of its core product, Fumatinib Mesylate Tablets, which has driven a significant increase in sales revenue.

The "ace" under Hehuang Pharmaceutical is Fruquintinib, with market sales reaching 366.2 million US dollars in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 26%.

In 2025, Nuocheng Jianhua's revenue will be 2.37 billion yuan, with a net profit of about 633 million yuan, achieving a turnaround from loss to profit for the first time. This is mainly due to the commercialization and volume expansion of Obutinib, which won the first line treatment for CLL/SLL new indications in 2025 and was successfully included in the national medical insurance.

However, the other side of the logic driven by a single product is the structural risk of 'single product dependency'.

In the growth history of almost all innovative pharmaceutical companies, they have experienced the stage of "one single product dominates the world", and the key is whether they can build a new growth echelon within the "golden window period" of the product lifecycle. Otherwise, any "black swan" such as the patent cliff, intensified competition, or reduced medical insurance prices may cause former star companies to fall back into the abyss of losses.

In this sense, a single product is the starting point, not the endpoint.

As the domestic innovation drug market rapidly turns from a "blue ocean" to a "red ocean", popular targets such as PD-1, BTK, CAR-T are clustered, and competition among similar products is becoming increasingly fierce. Medical insurance negotiations and centralized procurement further compress the profit space of a single market. Under the "involution", going out to sea is no longer a multiple-choice question, but a survival question.

License out not only allows Chinese innovative drugs to enter the global market at lower costs and risks, but also brings real down payments and milestone revenue, becoming a new blood engine for enterprises.

It can be said that BD capability is on par with R&D capability and commercialization capability, becoming a key dimension for measuring the value of an innovative pharmaceutical company.

Yige is as stable as Hengrui, and in the 2025 financial report, it is clearly stated that "innovative drug external licensing will be a normalized business of the company". In 2025, Hengrui Pharmaceutical's external licensing revenue reached 3.392 billion yuan, which has become an important component of revenue.

Specifically, Hengrui Pharmaceutical will achieve a total of 5 overseas transactions by 2025, with a cumulative down payment bonus of 800 million US dollars. Among them, the down payment for the transaction with GSK is as high as 500 million US dollars, with a total amount of up to 12 billion US dollars. At the same time, Hengrui also adopted the "NewCo model" to monetize the overseas equity of HRS-1893, demonstrating a flexible internationalization strategy.

Xinda Biotechnology also regards BD licensing fees as an important source of income. In 2025, Xinda's authorization fee revenue reached 957 million yuan, although slightly lower than the previous year's 1.1 billion yuan, with the promotion of cooperation pipelines and the deepening of strategic cooperation, authorization fee revenue has become an indispensable part of the company's revenue structure.

If the BD income of Hengrui and Xinda has become a "regular army", the core driving force behind the "phenomenal" performance report submitted by Sansheng Guojian in 2025 also comes from a record breaking BD transaction.

In May 2025, Sansheng Guojian and its affiliates Sansheng Pharmaceutical reached an authorization agreement with Pfizer for PD-1/VEGF dual antibody SSGJ-707, with a down payment of $1.4 billion and a potential total transaction volume exceeding $6 billion. Among them, Sansheng Guojian was allocated 30%, and this single transaction confirmed a down payment income of approximately 2.8 billion yuan, directly driving the annual net profit to soar to 2.9 billion yuan.

The licensing revenue brought by BD is also a key variable for multiple companies to turn losses into profits.

In 2025, Rongchang Biotechnology confirmed a licensing revenue of 940 million yuan, mainly from two transactions: a global cooperation with Vor Company on Taitai Xipu, obtaining a down payment of 45 million US dollars and over 20% stock warrants; Reached a global authorization cooperation with AbbVie on RC148 and received a down payment of 650 million US dollars.

Nuocheng Jianhua will confirm licensing revenue of 930 million yuan in 2025, mainly from its cooperation with Zenas BioPharma - Nuocheng Jianhua has granted the latter a portion of the global equity in Obutinib and two other assets, receiving a down payment of 100 million US dollars and 7 million shares of Zenas; In addition, we collaborated with Prolium to develop CD3 × CD20 bispecific antibodies, with a total transaction amount of 520 million US dollars.

It is worth noting that the value of BD is not only reflected in current revenue, but also in the imagination space of the capital market for a company.

In 2024, Kangfang Biotechnology's core product, Ecovacil (AK112), defeated the global "drug king" Keytruda head to head in phase III clinical trials, nearly doubling the progression free survival of non-small cell lung cancer patients. This result directly ignited the acquisition frenzy of Chinese PD - (L) 1/VEGF dual antibody assets by multinational pharmaceutical companies.
 
Although Kangfang Biotechnology will still incur a loss of 1.141 billion yuan in 2025, the capital market's tolerance for loss making companies has dropped to freezing point, except for Kangfang, whose market value remains strong.

Behind this is the huge imaginative space anchored by BD narrative: Ivosi (AK112) is conducting 15 Phase III clinical trials, and the down payment and milestone revenue from future overseas authorizations are enough to reshape the company's financial structure.

Looking back at 2025, almost all "prestigious" innovative pharmaceutical companies will hold large BD transactions. BD is no longer a "by-product" of research and development, but a profit pillar that runs parallel to product revenue. It is not only a breakthrough strategy for Chinese pharmaceutical companies to cope with internal competition, but also the most direct pricing method for China's innovation capabilities in the global market.
 

The annual report season of 2025 is coming to an end, and China's innovative pharmaceutical industry is starting to cross the profit and loss line.

The first realization of sector based profitability marks a true turn for the industry from the narrative logic of "burning money for the future" and enters a new cycle based on revenue, profit, and cash flow.

Looking back at this transcript, major companies have different paths, but the answer points in the same direction: products must enter the market, occupy market share, generate profits, and the story of innovative drugs can only be closed.

But profitability is never the end, but the starting line for a new round of competition.

At present, the other side of the coin is also emerging: the dependence on large products, the one-time feature of BD down payments, and the lingering chill of the financing environment, all remind the industry that the sustainability of profits is the true touchstone - the next suspense is: who can turn this closed loop into a sustainable business?

2025 has proven one thing: innovative drugs in China can make money. The next question is - how long can we earn and why should we keep earning.