Will Myasthenia Gravis patients get a new drug? HeboYi Pharmaceuticals expects that Bartholizumab will be approved within the year, and net profit in 2025 is projected to surge 33 times

Ask AI · How Will the Approval of Batolizumab Reshape Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s Revenue Structure?

Source: Economic Daily News (JWB) Author: Yan Xiaohan

After securing global strategic collaborations with multiple global pharmaceutical giants, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Hepal-Pharmaceutical-B (02142.HK) saw a significant increase in its 2025 performance.

On March 30, Hepal-Pharmaceutical released its 2025 results report. The financial statement shows that in 2025, Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s total revenue reached $158 million (about RMB 1.11 billion), up 314.6% year over year; full-year net profit was approximately $92.22 million (about RMB 648 million), up 33 times year over year.

This is the third consecutive year since 2023 that Hepal-Pharmaceutical has remained profitable. In 2024, Hepal-Pharmaceutical experienced double-digit declines in both revenue and net profit year over year.

At the performance briefing on March 31, Hepal-Pharmaceutical attributed its 2025 revenue growth to three major factors: Nona Bio, the company’s platform for global biologics innovation and development; the company’s platform-based overseas expansion collaboration with AstraZeneca and several other multinational pharmaceutical enterprises; and its oncology and immunology core pipeline entering global concept validation, with initial validation achieved in the areas of the central nervous system and weight-loss and metabolism.

BD (business development) revenue is gradually becoming a regular source of income for Hepal-Pharmaceutical. The company plans to deliver more than two scale BD deals each year going forward—each with an upfront payment exceeding $50 million and a total cooperation amount of $1 billion.

At the above-mentioned briefing, management said the company expects the group’s total revenue growth rate in 2026 to remain no less than 40%-50%, achieving a financial target of $221 million to $237 million (about RMB 1.53 billion to RMB 1.64 billion), and expressed confidence that its conventional business profitability will remain stable and improve over time.

Image source: Tu Chong Creative

Molecular licensing fees account for nearly 90% of revenue

Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s growth still relies on external authorization BD and platform cooperation services with Nona Bio.

According to the financial report, Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s revenue mainly includes molecular licensing fees, research services and technology licensing fees. Among them, research services and technology licensing fees increased from $8.34M in 2024 to $16.58M in 2025, up 98.7% year over year.

Molecular licensing fees are the company’s largest revenue source, contributing nearly 90% of revenue in 2025. This business income rose from $29.76M in 2024 to $141 million in 2025, up about 375%. “Mainly due to strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies and external licensing of newly obtained innovative products.” Hepal-Pharmaceutical stated in its results report.

Over the past year, it has been a big year for Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s BD. Hepal-Pharmaceutical named 2025 the company’s “year of platform overseas expansion cooperation.”

According to the financial report, in 2025, Hepal-Pharmaceutical successively reached global strategic collaborations with four multinational pharmaceutical companies: AstraZeneca, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Of these, Hepal-Pharmaceutical and AstraZeneca had already cooperated twice before 2025, and their collaboration continued to deepen. In March 2025, Hepal-Pharmaceutical and AstraZeneca reached a global strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop a new generation of bispecific antibody therapies. In November of the same year, the scope of cooperation expanded to new-generation biologics, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell engagers (TCEs), covering immunologic diseases, oncology, and many other disease areas.

Under the agreement at the time, Hepal-Pharmaceutical could receive a total of $175 million in upfront payments, near-term milestone payments, and option exercise fees, as well as potential R&D and commercial milestone payments of up to $4.4 billion, plus tiered royalty fees based on net sales of future products.

Over the next five years, AstraZeneca can incorporate more projects into this collaboration, and the agreement term can also be extended by another five years. As part of the deal, AstraZeneca spent $105 million to subscribe for 9.15% of Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s newly issued shares, and the two companies also co-built an innovation center in Beijing to advance their joint plans.

Regarding Hepal-Pharmaceutical and AstraZeneca’s latest negotiation status, Hepal-Pharmaceutical management said the final outputs of their collaboration will be as part of AstraZeneca’s global R&D system. Although the collaboration has been underway for several months, many projects are still in early stages. In addition, new projects and new departments have been continuously added and advanced during the process, and each project is at a different stage, so more detailed information cannot be disclosed at this time.

Management also said that as the cooperation further deepens, when projects reach a certain stage, both sides will jointly announce certain milestones and progress of more mature projects to the public.

Beyond global strategic collaborations, Hepal-Pharmaceutical also achieved four asset collaborations and five research and technology licensing collaborations last year. These collaborations have also brought Hepal-Pharmaceutical some revenue. For example, in January 2025, Hepal-Pharmaceutical and Korenbo Tai Biotech-B (06990.HK) granted Windward Bio an exclusive license for HBM9378/WIN378 globally (excluding Greater China and certain Southeast Asian and West Asian countries). Hepal-Pharmaceutical and Korenbo Tai are entitled to receive a total of $970 million in upfront and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties at single-digit to double-digit percentages based on net sales.

New drug approvals expected within the year

As Hepal-Pharmaceutical increases collaborations with multinational pharmaceutical companies, innovative drug firms, and others across assets, platforms, and technology, the contributed revenue keeps growing. But the market is more concerned with when this company—still without any products commercialized—will have drugs approved for sale.

The financial report shows that, currently, the company’s pipeline chart includes nearly 20 in-development programs: 9 for inflammatory and immunology diseases, 7 for oncology/cancer immunotherapy, and candidate drugs in areas such as weight management and obesity, as well as the central nervous system.

Among them, Batolizumab (HBM9161) is the fastest-advancing in-development program. The drug has already submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) for the treatment of severe myasthenia gravis. However, the drug’s own progress is not fast: it was accepted by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) back in July 2024, but it is still under review.

Two other relatively faster-advancing programs have entered Phase II clinical trials.

These include: HBM9378 (TSLP antibody) China new drug research application (IND) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which was approved by the NMPA in January 2025; in July 2025, Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s collaboration partner began Phase II clinical research for POLARIS. Clinical Phase II data for Prusuzumab (HBM4003) in combination with Trelagliptinumab for microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) was released in October 2025. In February 2026, Hepal-Pharmaceutical reached a licensing agreement and equity cooperation with a clinical-stage biotechnology company for this drug, granting the other party exclusive rights to develop and commercialize HBM4003 in regions outside Greater China.

Batolizumab, the fastest-advancing candidate, is heavily expected by Hepal-Pharmaceutical. Hepal-Pharmaceutical acquired Greater China rights for Batolizumab in 2017, and in 2022 authorized it to Shiyao Holdings Group’s wholly owned subsidiary Shiyao Enbipu Pharmaceutical.

At the results briefing, Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s Chief Financial Officer Chen Youchen said that before 2025, the company’s revenue was mainly composed of Hepal-Pharmaceutical’s product-authorization BD and Nona Bio’s platform cooperation services. After 2025, its revenue will become more diversified and varied. In addition to the two major segments above, it will also include product revenue, ecosystem revenue, and global platform overseas expansion.

“With Batolizumab’s approval in China within the year, for the treatment of severe myasthenia gravis, and leveraging the commercialization systems and capabilities of our commercial partner Shiyao Enbipu in the domestic market, in the future it will bring Hepal-Pharmaceutical a steady stream of opportunities for sales profit sharing.” Chen Youchen said.