Innovent, BeOne are poised for profits in 2025, in milestone for Chinese biotech start-ups
Innovent likely to post a first-half net profit of US$36.4 million, and BeOne’s first-half net profit is expected to come in at US$42 million
“Chinese biotechs have matured significantly and are creating value for Chinese patients and government payers,” said Tony Ren, head of Asia healthcare research at Macquarie Capital, in a report on July 16. “[Some will] likely turn profitable soon and no longer rely on investors for funding.”
According to a consensus estimate from Bloomberg, the company was expected to post a net profit of 472 million yuan for 2025, its first full-year profit since going public. Innovent, founded in 2011, was one of the first batch of firms to go public in 2018 under a Hong Kong listing regime that allowed drug and medical device developers with no profit or revenue to sell shares.
In the second half, Zhang estimated that Innovent would book 1 billion yuan in sales from mazdutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) weight loss drug launched in July.
That would amount to a sixth of the company’s total expected revenue for this year, making it a key contributor to the improved bottom line. Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, the first GLP-1 drug launched in China last year for weight loss, generated revenue of 770 million yuan in the first quarter.