Innovative drug BD upfront payments drive performance: San Sheng Guo Jian's net profit more than tripled last year

On February 25, San Sheng Guo Jian (688336) surged over 9% intraday, closing up 8.02%.

In terms of news, San Sheng Guo Jian released its performance quick report on the evening of February 24, showing that the company’s 2025 revenue was approximately 4.199 billion yuan, an increase of 251.81% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was about 2.939 billion yuan, up 317.09% year-on-year; and net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 2.805 billion yuan, a rise of 1041.01%.

By May 2025, San Sheng Pharmaceutical, Shenyang San Sheng, and San Sheng Guo Jian will grant Pfizer exclusive rights to develop, produce, and commercialize the company’s self-developed breakthrough PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody SSGJ-707 globally (excluding Mainland China). Accordingly, San Sheng received a non-refundable and non-deductible upfront payment of $1.25 billion, with potential milestone payments for development, regulatory approval, and sales reaching up to $4.8 billion.

The growth in performance is mainly due to a significant collaboration between the company and Pfizer during the reporting period. The company received approximately 2.89 billion yuan in licensing fees from Pfizer for the SSGJ-707 project, which also drove a biotech deal boom in China’s innovative drug industry in 2025. Data previously released by the National Medical Products Administration showed that in 2025, China’s licensing transactions for innovative drugs exceeded $130 billion, with over 150 deals, setting a new record.

The biotech deal boom continues. After the Spring Festival in the Year of the Horse, many pharmaceutical companies announced new BD transactions. For example, on February 25, Dashi Pharmaceutical announced an exclusive licensing agreement with U.S. biotech company Slate Medicines, granting them exclusive rights to develop and commercialize their self-developed, potentially best-in-class, targeted pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) monoclonal antibody DS009 globally (excluding Greater China) for the prevention and treatment of migraines and other headache disorders. This is China’s first “going overseas” original non-opioid biological painkiller.

On February 24, Pfizer China and Hangzhou Xianweda Biotech reached a strategic cooperation agreement for the commercialization of the next-generation GLP-1 receptor agonist, Enopeglutide injection. Xianweda Biotech will have the right to receive up to $495 million in payments from Pfizer, and Pfizer China will obtain the commercialization rights for Enopeglutide in mainland China.

On February 23, Frontier Biopharmaceutical announced an exclusive licensing agreement with GSK. GSK will gain exclusive rights worldwide to develop, produce, and commercialize two siRNA pipeline products. Frontier Biopharmaceutical will receive a $40 million upfront payment and up to $963 million in milestone payments based on successful development, regulatory, and commercialization milestones, along with tiered royalties on global net sales of the two products. Also on February 23, HePu Medicine announced its new generation CTLA-4 antibody going overseas via the NewCo model, with a total transaction amount exceeding $1.2 billion.

Jiang Hai Securities’ research report suggests that, based on BD transaction data from January-February 2026 and industry trends, the 2026 pharmaceutical BD deals will focus on “unmet clinical needs,” “technological differentiation,” and “global value.” In 2026, China’s innovative drug BD will undergo three major transformations: technology licensing combined with product licensing, platform-based cooperation, and global parallel innovation. Key areas to watch include core tracks such as siRNA (delivery technology/chronic disease pipelines), tumor immunotherapy (bispecific antibodies/ADC combinations), metabolic diseases (GLP-1 analogs/MASH liver-targeted siRNA), and CGT (in vivo gene editing/versatile CAR-T), with particular attention to platform hematopoietic capabilities and milestone achievement.

Some industry insiders also point out that in 2025, the focus of innovative drug BD will be on securing “cash-in” upfront payments, while in 2026, attention will shift to milestone nodes in various BD deals. On one hand, milestone achievements can bring cash flow to companies; on the other hand, they further reflect the quality of the company’s innovation pipeline.