Rongchang Biotech’s dual-antibody ADC clinical trial has been approved! The Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug ETF, Harvest Fund (159570), once rose by more than 2%, and for four consecutive days its “capital inflow” totaled over 1.26 billion yuan!

Today (4.2), Hong Kong pharmaceutical stocks continued their strong rebound for the second consecutive day. With a 100% purity innovative drug profile, the Huaxinfu (159570) Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug ETF rose more than 2% at one point during the trading session; it is still up 0.6% now. During the session, trading value quickly broke through 3.1 billion yuan! Funds saw massive net inflows for the fourth consecutive day, with total “capital inflows” of over 1.26 billion yuan! The latest scale exceeded 26.1 billion yuan, far ahead of peers in the same category.

In terms of new drugs, Rongchang Biotech announced on April 1, 2026 that the company and the board are pleased to announce that they have received a drug clinical trial approval notice issued by the National Medical Products Administration of China. The company’s self-developed bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (bispecific ADC) injection RC288, as a single-agent treatment for Phase I/IIa clinical trials of locally advanced unresectable or metastatic malignant solid tumors, has been approved. RC288 is a bispecific ADC targeting PSMA and B7H3. It is an innovative drug molecule developed by the company using a new-generation conjugation and toxin technology. PSMA and B7H3 are both promising therapeutic targets. Both are highly expressed in multiple malignant tumor tissues and tumor neovasculature, and participate in regulating signaling pathways related to tumor proliferation, invasion, and drug resistance.

In recent times, Hong Kong pharmaceutical companies have been disclosing performance results in clusters, and the sector has been boosted by strong performance. As of April 1, among the 32 constituent stocks of the Huaxinfu (159570) Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug ETF’s underlying index, 31 have already disclosed their 2025 performance, and 16 are seeing year-on-year growth in net profit attributable to the parent company.

Note: The constituent stocks of the underlying index are for display purposes only and are not stock recommendations.

Most of the popular stocks in the Huaxinfu (159570) Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug ETF’s underlying index are in the green. Luye Pharma is up more than 8%, Connoa-B and Zai Lab are up more than 4%, Hansoh Pharma is up more than 3%, Rongchang Biotech is up nearly 2%, and Cinda Biotech, BeiGene, and CSPC Pharmaceutical Group are slightly higher.

Note: The weight stocks in the underlying index are for display purposes only and are not stock recommendations.

【Market is full of twists and turns—why can innovative drugs “break through the heavy blockade”?】

Affected by the US-Iran conflict, market performance remains unpredictable. Judging from the performance in the last two days, innovative drugs have stood out among a host of sectors.

On the news front, major acquisitions in the US came one after another, boosting US biotech stocks. Biogen announced a $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis, and Eli Lilly announced a deal worth as much as $7.8 billion to acquire Centessa. This has significantly lifted market expectations for the “value of being acquired” for biotech companies, and has driven the overall sentiment in the sector.

At the same time, multinational pharmaceutical companies’ procurement in China continues. This procurement also shows signals of a “double rise in both volume and quality.” In the first quarter of 2026, the average upfront payment for external BD of China’s innovative drugs reached $184 million, and the average total amount exceeded $2.7 billion—both hitting historical highs. Compared with 2025, these increased by approximately 59% and 46% respectively, and compared with the “BD Year” 2022, they have already increased by 187% and 150%.

In addition, the innovative drug sector has been catalyzed by major academic conferences. The ELCC is held in full swing, and many domestic pharmaceutical companies have released positive results in the field of lung cancer. From March 25 to 28, 2026, the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The European Lung Cancer Congress is a highly influential academic conference in the global lung cancer field. It is jointly hosted by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), aiming to promote innovation in lung cancer basic research, clinical diagnosis and treatment, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

At this conference, multiple cutting-edge research results from domestic innovative drug companies were unveiled: (1) seven lung cancer studies were released in sequence, including the company’s independently developed adalimumab injection (Erelly), aflibercept tablets (Eitan), fucangzhangumab injection ( Andajing), as well as the investigational drug SHR-A2009. (2) The Phase I clinical study results for TQB2922 (EGFR/cMET bispecific antibody), independently developed by China Biopharmaceutical’s core company Innovent (Zhende Tianqing), for non-small cell lung cancer—were disclosed for the first time and were selected for oral presentations at the conference. (3) CSPC Group released and updated its brief oral report with the final OS analysis and subgroup analysis results from its Phase II study of JMT101 (Becotarug) combined with osimertinib for EGFR ex20ins non-small cell lung cancer that failed platinum-based treatment, and also updated the results. (4) In the form of a major oral report (LBA4), Kelun Biotech announced OS analysis results for lumcansatuzumab (SKB264/Sac-TMT) used in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients with EGFR mutation-positive (EGFRm) whose disease progressed after EGFR-TKI and platinum-based chemotherapy. (5) Beigene’s independently developed iza-bren ( EGFR×HER3 bispecific ADC ) in combination with slurilumab was selected for oral presentations at the conference. The clinical research results are for first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).

(Source: Shanghai Securities 20260401 “Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industry Weekly: Multiple Resonances Catalyze—Innovation Drug Industry Chain Enters a Value Realization Period”)

【The innovative drug market size in the next five years is expected to exceed 2 trillion yuan!】

On the news front, according to the National Medical Products Administration, in the first three months of this year, the total amount of China’s innovative drug external licensing transactions exceeded $60 billion, nearly half of the whole of 2025. As of March 27, China had already approved 10 innovative drugs for 2026, including 2 imported and 8 domestically developed. China’s innovative drugs achieved a historic breakthrough, maintaining a strong development momentum and potential.

Based on data previously disclosed by the authority, in 2025, China approved 76 innovative drugs for the full year, setting a record high. The total amount of innovative drug external licensing transactions also hit a record high. In that year, there were 157 external licensing transaction events, with upfront payments totaling $7 billion and a total transaction value of approximately $135.7 billion—representing a doubling growth compared with 2024.

Innovative drug BD (business development) is the core business model through which pharmaceutical companies integrate innovative drug resources worldwide via buying, selling, and cooperation, in order to maximize commercial value. Innovative drug external licensing transactions (Licensing-out) are one of the core components of BD.

According to estimates by Pharmcube and Soochow Securities, in 2024 the size of China’s innovative drug market (including in-hospital sales + out-of-hospital sales + BD upfront payments and milestones) was close to 550 billion yuan. From 2025 to 2027, explosive growth is expected driven by BD revenue. It is expected that by 2030, the size of China’s innovative drug market (including in-hospital sales + out-of-hospital sales + BD upfront payments and milestones + revenue sharing) will exceed 2 trillion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 24.1%.

It is worth noting that starting in late March, major domestic pharmaceutical giants including Hengrui Medicine and China Biopharmaceutical released their 2025 financial report information, showing that the innovative drug segment (excluding BD) achieved rapid growth. Biotech companies such as BeiGene, NuoCheng Jianhua, and Rongchang Biotech turned losses into profits significantly. The development model of innovative drugs has shifted from relying purely on financing-driven momentum to a comprehensive drive combining product commercialization + overseas R&D licensing + financing.

【Innovative drugs are in the golden window of overlapping three cycles】

Jiao International said that, against the backdrop of a recovery in demand and the reshaping of the competitive landscape, the pharmaceutical industry will enter a new stage of “scale rushing in and survival of the fittest.” Innovative drug overseas expansion will expand the industry and upgrade its structure. The consolidation trend among leading companies will accelerate, and AI drug development is expected to reach a development inflection point in 2026.

CITIC Securities stated that the innovative drug sector currently has dual support from both macro liquidity and industry fundamentals: US Treasury yields have a clearly negative correlation with the performance of innovative drugs in A-shares. If geopolitical conflicts ease and overseas rate cuts push the world back into a rate-cut cycle, it is expected to attract global allocation capital to flow back.

Guojin Securities pointed out that the innovative drug sector is currently in a golden window where three cycles overlap: “performance realization, valuation repair, and conference catalysis.”

Guosheng Securities said that in the 2026 government’s key work report, biomedicine was listed as an emerging pillar industry for the first time. For the pharmaceutical sector, this means that the policy positioning for biomedicine is being upgraded further—from “cultivating emerging tracks” to “an important pillar direction for economic growth and industrial upgrading.” Among these, innovative drugs as the most core high-value-added segment in the biomedicine industry have particularly clear benefiting directions.

【Focus on China’s hardcore innovative drug strength, represent new productive forces—only recognize the Huaxinfu (159570) Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug ETF】

The Huaxinfu (159570) Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug ETF’s underlying index allocates 100% to innovative drugs! As of February 27, the top ten constituent stocks’ weight is 73.54%, concentrating the essence of Hong Kong Stock Connect innovative drugs!

Source: Guozheng Index official website, 2026/2/27. Constituent stocks are for display only and are not stock recommendations.

A wealth of information and precise insights—available on the Sina Finance App