2%, 80%, 24 times - three figures, hiding the password of China's hepatitis B treatment drug research and development from weak to strong.

Breaking through the 2% survival rate of startups in the industry with a pioneering spirit; Breaking through foreign technology blockade, independent research and development innovation, with a market share of over 80% for individual products; Persisting in doing the 'difficult but right thing', single product revenue has increased 24 times in 8 years... Recently, a reporter from Shanghai Securities News visited Xiamen Tebao Bioengineering Co., Ltd. to record the growth story of this Chinese biopharmaceutical enterprise's' breakthrough ',' jointing ', and' heading '.

Innovative drug research and development 'nine deaths for a lifetime'

Xiamen Biomedical Port, with the sound of waves, inspires people to strive forward. 30 years ago, this was still a sugarcane field, but now it has become one of the national level industrial clusters in the field of biomedicine, with a peak industrial scale exceeding 50 billion yuan. The headquarters of TeBao Biotechnology is located here.

This records the entrepreneurial stories of Xiamen biopharmaceutical professionals and witnesses the rise of China's biopharmaceutical industry from scratch.

In 1996, China's biopharmaceutical industry was just starting to take off. At that time, Sun Linian, the chairman and general manager of Tebao Biotechnology, was only 28 years old and still engaged in research and development work in the central laboratory of Xiangya Hospital, Hunan Medical University.

At that time, we found that many research groups from higher education institutions had good projects, but the domestic pharmaceutical industry did not have the ability to undertake them. "Sun Li decided to leave the university laboratory and enter the production workshop.

Right next to a sugarcane field, we ignited the torch of entrepreneurship, "Sun Li told reporters, holding an old photo from the time of building the factory. Innovative drugs require high investment, long time, and high risks from research and development to market, which can be described as" nine deaths in a lifetime ".

Back then, hundreds of teams with technical backgrounds joined the entrepreneurial wave of biotechnology pharmaceuticals, but the survival rate was only about 2%. How to become a member of these 2%? Sun Li believes that the key is internal driving force.

The intrinsic driving force comes from unwillingness to accept foreign monopolies. Sun Li said, "There are already very good products abroad, and the Chinese will certainly be able to make them."

The internal driving force also comes from the sense of mission of the physician's benevolence. At that time, the average monthly salary was only a few hundred yuan, but using imported drugs for one course of treatment cost tens of thousands of yuan. We always hoped to develop products that Chinese patients could afford, "said Sun Li.

Carrying this inner driving force, Sun Li and six or seven members of the research group ate boxed meals and slept in the work shed together. Even though the success rate is extremely low, the team has not backed down at all because we believe it is a meaningful and worthwhile thing to do

In 1997, TeBao Biotechnology launched its first product, Terli, which was the first recombinant human granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor drug in China. In the following years, the second and third products were successively born.

Nowadays, TeBao Biotechnology has grown from a small team of only six or seven people to a leading Chinese polyethylene glycol protein long-acting drug company with nearly 2000 employees.

In 2020, TeBao Biotechnology was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Science and Technology Innovation Board as the first stock in Fujian Province's biopharmaceutical industry, continuously unleashing innovative momentum with the help of capital.

On January 15, 2025, TBEA announced that it expects a net profit attributable to the parent company of RMB 810 million to RMB 840 million in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 45.83% to 51.23%.

Breaking the monopoly of foreign pharmaceutical companies

The reason why China's pharmaceutical industry has been able to break away from its previous backward situation and leap to the second place in the world in terms of the number of new drugs developed is closely related to the efforts of many Chinese pharmaceutical companies to constantly update and iterate their technologies, from imitators to challengers. Tebao Biology is one of them.

"With the extension of time, the risk of hepatitis B infected people progressing to cirrhosis and liver cancer is increasing." In 2002, Sun Li began to research and develop drugs for chronic hepatitis B treatment for more than ten years, "hepatitis B is a problem that Chinese people need to face together, and we have the obligation to solve".

At that time, due to the lag of basic scientific research, the market of long-acting recombinant protein drugs for the treatment of hepatitis B was monopolized by foreign pharmaceutical enterprises for a long time, and it was difficult to break through the technical blockade.

Only through independent innovation can we continue to experiment. "Sun Li believes that although the success rate of independent innovation is low and the cost is high, no matter how difficult it is, we must persevere." Since the success rate is very low, we should continue to experiment and expand the 'molecule'. When the 'molecule' is large, the probability of success is high.

Focus leads to results. In 2016, the world's first 40kD polyethylene glycol long-acting interferon α -2b injection independently developed by Tebao Biology was approved for marketing, becoming the first long-acting interferon drug with completely independent intellectual property rights in China, and the first-line drug for antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

Paigebin is one of the many research and development achievements of TeBao Biotechnology. In recent years, Tebao Biotechnology has continuously invested more than 10% of its annual revenue in research and innovation, and its technological strength and market development capabilities have continued to strengthen.

The drug structure and preparation method of Peginterferon have been granted patents in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, including China, the United States, and Japan, breaking through the patent blockade of foreign pharmaceutical giants. In the domestic long-acting interferon market, the market share of Peginterferon is expected to exceed 80% by 2023.

In June 2023, the company's 15 year independently developed long-acting human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor product, Topafe Gesetin Injection (trade name: Peijin), was approved for market launch. Its product structure and process patents were authorized by multiple countries and regions including China and the United States, and was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in 2023".

Climbing to the "Everest" for hepatitis B treatment

With the further recognition of experts and patients on the research evidence of Pegabin in improving the clinical cure rate of hepatitis B and reducing the risk of liver cancer, the continuous high volume of products has brought rapid growth in income. Since the company went public in 2016, Pagbin's sales revenue has increased nearly 24 times in 8 years.

Sun Li believes that with the continuous accumulation of scientific experiments, the academic community continues to optimize and innovate the treatment scheme for hepatitis B, and it has become the most important topic to transform the research results into practical applications that can benefit patients.

When our own technology develops into a pioneer in the industry, we need to transmit advanced concepts to society, which is a process gradually accepted by society, experts, and patients, "said Sun Li." We have patience and constantly make efforts to transmit knowledge

In recent years, Tebo Biology has successively carried out or supported a series of scientific research or public welfare projects for people with chronic hepatitis B B and patients with chronic hepatitis B at an uncertain stage, to benefit more patients through in-depth exploration and optimization of treatment plans.

Sun Li firmly believes that "only by persisting in doing the right thing can we achieve a breakthrough from 0 to 1

In March 2024, the National Medical Products Administration accepted the application for marketing authorization for the combination of pegbin and nucleoside analogues for the clinical treatment of adult chronic hepatitis B with additional indications.

The industry compares the long-term goal of clinical cure of hepatitis B to "Mount Everest", and the difficulty of the peak climbing process can be seen. Sun Li said, "We have just arrived at the foot of the mountain. However, now we can no longer just look up like we used to, but have the ability to climb.