"Stone Pharma Innovation's" Predicament: BD Revenue Won't Hit Accounts Until This Year

What is the impact of AI·BD revenue delays on the company’s transformation?

On March 16, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Limited (stock ticker: XinNuoWei) released its 2025 performance announcement: In 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 2.158 billion yuan, an increase of 8.93% year-over-year; however, net loss attributable to shareholders was 241 million yuan, a decrease of 548.8%.

XinNuoWei explained that the primary reason for the loss was increased R&D investment. In 2025, R&D expenses reached 1.036 billion yuan, up 23.01%. In fact, last year, XinNuoWei spent another 1.1 billion yuan to acquire a 29% stake in Jush Bio, and the subsequent consolidation further added to the company’s performance burden, which is the fundamental reason for the shift from profit to loss.

According to the financial report, Jush Bio achieved revenue of 257 million yuan in 2025, a 192% increase, but net loss widened from 727 million yuan to 904 million yuan, dragging down XinNuoWei’s net profit by about 270 million yuan.

On the other hand, XinNuoWei’s traditional core business—caffeine-based products—saw declines in gross margin and profitability compared to the previous year due to market factors. The report shows that revenue from XinNuoWei’s functional raw materials and health foods grew by only 0.93% year-over-year, with gross margin decreasing by 4.85%, marking two consecutive years of decline.

XinNuoWei is under pressure to undertake CSPC Group’s innovation-driven transformation, but the value of innovation has yet to be demonstrated, which is the most urgent challenge currently faced.

Key Product Sales Underperform

XinNuoWei’s most core innovative drugs are PD-1 Enlansopab and IgE antibody Omalizumab, both approved for market in June and September 2024, respectively, both stemming from investments in Jush Bio. 2025 marks the first full year of sales for these two key products. XinNuoWei has not disclosed sales figures for individual products, but the total revenue of 257 million yuan is clearly below expectations, even insufficient to cover the 281 million yuan spent on sales.

In terms of product focus, CSPC heavily bets on popular industry segments. PD-1 monoclonal antibodies need no elaboration, and Omalizumab is also among the top ten in the autoimmunity field. Despite being on the market for over 20 years, Omalizumab continues to grow steadily, with sales around $5.6 billion in 2025, including a 32% increase in the U.S. market.

Omalizumab’s original patent expired in 2016, but the drug entered China’s medical insurance catalog in 2019. Many Chinese pharmaceutical companies are interested in this market, with three products already on the market. Besides the original brand, Taizhou Maibo Taike Pharmaceutical’s Omalizumab was approved in 2023, about a year earlier than CSPC, for allergic asthma.

CSPC’s Omalizumab was first approved in September 2024, with indications different from Maibo’s, initially targeting chronic spontaneous urticaria. In January 2025, it gained approval for allergic asthma, expanding its indications. With further efforts, CSPC’s Omalizumab still has significant growth potential.

Enlansopab’s prospects are more challenging. Its indication is for second-line or higher recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer patients. The cervical cancer patient population is relatively small; in 2022, China had approximately 151,000 new cases, so the market for treatment drugs isn’t large. In 2023, Camrelizumab’s first full year of sales post-launch brought in 1.358 billion yuan. That year, Kangfang Bio’s Camrelizumab relied on market exclusivity to achieve impressive sales outside insurance.

But now, the situation has changed. Camrelizumab has been included in the insurance drug list with a price reduction, and Qilu’s PD-1/CTLA-4 dual antibody has also been approved. Competition among these three is becoming intense. Expanding the market is the key.

Currently, Qilu and CSPC are both vying to advance their products into first-line cervical cancer treatment, both in Phase III trials. In March this year, Qilu’s PD-1/CTLA-4 dual antibody combination therapy for first-line treatment of persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer reached the primary endpoint in Phase III. It’s not easy for XinNuoWei’s PD-1 to break through under the pressure of two dual antibodies.

BD Support Outlook

CSPC is undergoing a challenging transformation into innovation, with every move attracting industry attention. In 2025, amid China’s wave of innovative drug exports, CSPC’s numerous billion- and hundred-billion-dollar licensing agreements have garnered industry recognition.

In January, CSPC Group and AstraZeneca signed a cooperation agreement on a long-acting GLP1R/GIPR agonist SYH2082 and three preclinical pipeline projects. According to the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay a total upfront payment of $1.2 billion, with milestone payments up to $3.5 billion for development and up to $13.8 billion for sales.

CSPC disclosed that Jush Bio mainly involves a peptide molecule and related technologies and products in this agreement, currently in preclinical research. In the future, Jush Bio may also collaborate with AstraZeneca on innovative peptide discovery and long-acting delivery products.

Jush Bio will receive 35% of the upfront payment, amounting to $420 million. This will offset part of Jush Bio’s losses. For XinNuoWei, this year’s performance is expected to be much better than last year.

XinNuoWei’s innovation transformation faces greater difficulties than the parent group. While CSPC still has a large number of traditional products to support it, XinNuoWei started from health foods and food additives. In 2024, XinNuoWei reallocated about 800 million yuan of project funds used for health food production and R&D to the manufacturing of Jush Bio’s monoclonal antibodies and ADC products, preparing for a critical battle. However, in March 2025, CSPC’s Claudin 18.2 ADC (SYSA1801) was announced to have ceased development by partners. This pipeline is no longer part of XinNuoWei’s key pipeline.

Currently, the most advanced products close to market are Uscinumab and Patuizumab, both of which have submitted applications for approval and could bring quick revenue. The most critical ongoing clinical trials include: Secukinumab for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and several ADCs targeting HER2, EGFR, and Nectin-4, in Phase III for breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and cervical cancer.

These biosimilars face significant competition. For example, for psoriasis, there are currently 31 biosimilar products approved in China, according to Yaoyun Cloud database. Uscinumab and Patuizumab are also in a highly competitive, small market. XinNuoWei’s ADC is a promising product that could potentially become a performance growth point for the company.

Source: XinNuoWei 2025 Annual Report

Jush Bio still requires funding from its parent company. In March 2025, XinNuoWei and Enbipharma planned to provide Jush Bio with a zero-interest loan of 1 billion yuan to support R&D and operations. CSPC’s innovation path still needs time to bear fruit.

Written by: Yang Xixia

Edited by: Jiang Yun, Jia Ting

Operations: Twenty Thirteen

Note: Original content by Jian Shi Ju. Please do not reprint without permission.