Haizheng Pharmaceutical's diversification journey is rocky? Last year, R&D expenses increased by over 33%, and innovative tumor drugs are still in the early clinical stage.

Source: Times Weekly Report Author: Lin Yunxiao

On the evening of April 7th, Zhejiang-based pharmaceutical company Haisen Pharmaceutical (600267.SH), with a history of 70 years, disclosed its 2025 annual report. In 2025, Haisen Pharmaceutical achieved revenue of 10.55 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.03%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 541 million yuan, a decrease of 10.06% year-on-year; non-recurring net profit was 586 million yuan, up 36.11% year-on-year. The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 0.21 yuan per share (tax included) to all shareholders.

Regarding the reasons for performance changes, Haisen Pharmaceutical stated in the annual report that during the reporting period, the company’s operating income was 10.55 billion yuan, an increase of 2.03% year-on-year, of which revenue excluding distribution business was 7.55B yuan, up 6.36%, mainly due to good growth in pharmaceutical preparations and animal drug products.

In 2025, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company decreased by 10.06% year-on-year, mainly because in 2024, the company recognized a large amount of non-recurring gains from the redemption of convertible bonds, which was not present in this period. Under the influence of these factors, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s investment income decreased by 123.31% compared to the previous period.

In 2025, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s non-recurring net profit increased by 36.11% compared to the same period last year, mainly due to the company’s efforts to promote the market for formulation products, increased product sales, optimized marketing systems leading to improved operational efficiency, and the implementation of cost reduction and efficiency enhancement measures, resulting in an overall improvement in profitability.

Haisen Pharmaceutical was established in 1956, originally as Haimen Chemical Plant, and was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2000. In the first decade of the 21st century, leveraging its antibiotic product portfolio and forward-looking international expansion, Haisen Pharmaceutical became a prominent old-brand pharmaceutical company in China.

However, after 2015, affected by the strict implementation of the “Limit Antibiotics” policy, bans on Haisen Pharmaceutical’s raw materials in European and American markets, and unfavorable cooperation with Pfizer’s joint venture, the company experienced a decline in performance and faced a transition period. Wind data shows that from 2015 to 2016, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders both declined, and in 2018, it posted a significant loss.

Since then, Haisen Pharmaceutical has taken measures such as focusing on core businesses, divesting assets, and reducing costs to boost performance. Recent data indicates that the company’s performance remains unstable; in 2023, its net profit attributable to shareholders plummeted by 119.06%, resulting in a loss of 93 million yuan. In 2024, revenue and net profit increased again, but in 2025, net profit attributable to shareholders declined once more.

On April 8th, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s stock closed at 10.36 yuan per share, down 2.63%.

Image source: TuChong Creative

Generic drugs and raw materials are main businesses

From an industry perspective, Haisen Pharmaceutical mainly operates in three categories: pharmaceutical manufacturing, pharmaceutical commerce, and CMO/CDMO/CRO services. The pharmaceutical manufacturing segment includes pharmaceutical preparations, raw materials, and animal drugs. The pharmaceutical commerce segment includes drug distribution, imported pharmaceutical preparations, and outsourced drug marketing services.

According to the company’s 2025 annual report, in 2025, revenue from pharmaceutical manufacturing was 6.5B yuan, up 7.47% year-on-year, with a gross profit margin of 61.64%.

Specifically, revenue from pharmaceutical preparations reached 4.74B yuan, an increase of 325 million yuan year-on-year, mainly due to the company’s focus on innovative drugs and branded generics, refined management of centralized procurement and agency businesses, accelerated multi-channel expansion of pharmaceutical e-commerce, and the transformation of export formulation business toward a service platform model. Key products such as injectable Mitomycin, Haibo Mabut (Sethsime), Dihydrosulfate Adenosine Methylphosphonate Enteric-coated Tablets ( Ximixin ) saw increased revenue.

Revenue from pharmaceutical raw materials was 1.24B yuan, up 10 million yuan year-on-year; animal drugs achieved revenue of 523 million yuan, an increase of 117 million yuan, with a gross profit margin of 51.04%, mainly due to the company’s strategic focus on the pet drug sector, with pet business revenue increasing over 50%, and products like Hailiao Miao and Hailiao Wang seeing revenue growth.

Among the high-margin pharmaceutical preparations, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s 2025 revenue for anti-tumor, anti-infection, and cardiovascular drugs all exceeded 1 billion yuan. Specifically, anti-tumor drugs generated 1.12 billion yuan, up 15.07% with a gross margin of 74.50%; anti-infection drugs earned 1.75B yuan, down 7.25%, with a gross margin of 53.46%; cardiovascular drugs brought in 1.55 billion yuan, up 15.54%, with a gross margin of 72.69%.

Additionally, in 2025, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s pharmaceutical commerce segment achieved revenue of 3.9B yuan, down 4.08%, with a gross profit margin of 17.82%. Among these, drug distribution revenue was 3B yuan, down 242 million yuan, mainly due to decreased revenue from raw material sales in drug distribution.

Haisen Pharmaceutical pointed out that revenue from imported pharmaceutical preparations and outsourced drug marketing services was 899 million yuan, an increase of 76 million yuan, mainly from products such as Indacaterol Glucinium Bromide Inhalation Powder (Jie Run) and Omeprazole (Nuo Zai Le).

Currently, generic drugs and raw materials remain the main businesses of Haisen Pharmaceutical. The 2025 annual report states that during the reporting period, the company had 4 products with 6 specifications that passed or were deemed to pass consistency evaluation, including Posaconazole Injection and Everolimus Tablets, which obtained new drug registration certificates under the new Class 4 category, and 2 raw materials received domestic production approvals. In terms of international registration, 7 products obtained approval in 7 markets.

The generic drug industry is undergoing rapid transformation. In the annual report, Haisen Pharmaceutical noted that consistency evaluation of generics fundamentally improves drug quality and efficacy, and the normalization of national drug centralized procurement has profoundly changed market competition logic, significantly compressing low-end homogeneous capacity, and promoting industry consolidation and increased concentration.

The company also mentioned risks arising from changes in drug tender policies. As the scope of volume-based procurement expands, if some of the company’s products are included in the centralized procurement and fail to win bids, it could adversely affect sales revenue and operational performance.

Haisen Pharmaceutical told Times Weekly that relying on its integrated production capacity for pharmaceutical raw materials and formulations, and building an international standard system, gives the company advantages in supply assurance and quality control. Through a quality supply-centered, process technology innovation-supported procurement model, the company aims to expand its market share in centralized procurement.

Early-stage clinical development of anti-tumor innovative drugs

Regarding R&D investment, the 2025 annual report shows that R&D expenses were 479 million yuan, up 33.79% year-on-year. Haisen Pharmaceutical stated that the increase of 121 million yuan compared to the previous year was mainly due to the continuous growth of independent R&D projects and expansion of the R&D team; additionally, collaborations with multiple universities and industry companies increased external R&D investment.

In its innovative drug layout, Haisen Pharmaceutical’s chemical Class 1 new drug, Haibo Mabut (Sethsime), was approved for listing in June 2021, making it one of the few Class 1 new drugs in China’s cardiovascular field in recent years.

This drug serves as an adjunct to diet control and can be used alone or combined with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors ) statins ( for the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia. In 2025, sales of this drug increased by 22% year-on-year, and it has been included in the national medical insurance catalog.

Regarding ongoing innovative drugs, Haisen Pharmaceutical told Times Weekly that the company focuses on key therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, oncology, and autoimmune diseases. HS387 tablets, a selective KIF18A inhibitor, is intended for the treatment of advanced serous ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and other late-stage solid tumors, and received both Chinese and US IND approvals in 2025; another pipeline product, HSE-001, is a small-molecule conjugate drug targeting second-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, and was officially included in the R&D pipeline in 2025 with the first patient enrolled in Phase IIb clinical trials.

Specifically, according to Haisen Pharmaceutical’s 2025 annual report, the company disclosed five R&D projects. Besides the early-stage clinical development of Class 1 anti-tumor drugs HS387 and HSE-001, there are also preclinical-stage projects including Class 2.4 anticoagulant HSX3005, Class 1.1 metabolic drug HSN1008, and Class 1.1 anti-tumor drug HSN1001.

Haisen Pharmaceutical is also promoting the construction of R&D platforms. The 2025 annual report states that its Shanghai Innovation Drug R&D Center has been officially put into operation, with plans to establish European R&D and manufacturing bases. In industry-university-research collaborations, the company has partnered with Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, and others, focusing on AI drug development and pan-tumor new drugs. It also jointly established a company with Shengzhao Pharmaceuticals, focusing on complex injectable drug development.

Meanwhile, Haisen Pharmaceutical has initiated business in health supplements, functional skincare, aesthetic medicine and anti-aging, and new materials. In the medical aesthetics sector, the company has built a marketing team to promote product launches.

Regarding its business expansion strategy, Haisen Pharmaceutical told Times Weekly that it will rely on its “3+2+1” strategic layout, which includes three core industrial pillars—strengthening raw materials, formulations, and biomanufacturing; two diversified businesses—expanding pet (animal) health and medical aesthetics and health; and one innovation-driven engine to advance its innovative drug business.