Recently , Hisun Pharmaceutical surprised the market with two pieces of good news: its net profit for the first quarter of 2026 is expected to increase by 923% to 1095% year-on-year, which is close to twice the net profit of RMB 260 million for the whole of 2025; at the same time, Hisun Pharmaceutical officially announced a licensing cooperation with pharmaceutical giant AbbVie for Nav1.8 inhibitors with a total value of up to US$745 million .

>>The Logic Behind the Explosive Growth in Performance

Hisun Pharmaceutical expects to achieve a net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 477 million to RMB 557 million in the first quarter, nearly double its net profit for the entire year of 2025 (RMB 260 million). The core drivers of this surge in performance are twofold: first, the continued strong sales of innovative products such as propofol and cogglitazone, resulting in significant market expansion success; and second, revenue recognition from BD (Business Development) – the cash and partial equity income from the US$108 million upfront payment for the HSK39004 licensing deal reached with AirNexis in January 2026 were recognized this quarter.

This performance structure reflects Hisun's dual-engine growth logic: domestic market sales and overseas licensing revenue complement each other , which can both smooth out fluctuations in a single market and provide cash flow support for continuous R&D investment. Although the company's high growth in the first quarter largely depended on the concentrated recognition of BD revenue, which is a non-recurring income with timeliness and uncertainty, Hisun has not reduced its innovation intensity due to short-term performance improvement. In 2025, R&D expenses will reach RMB 1.085 billion, accounting for 24.72% of revenue.

>>The Strategic Implications of Partnering with AbbVie

The collaboration with AbbVie involves two Nav1.8 inhibitors—HSK55718 and HSK51155. The deal structure includes a $30 million upfront payment, up to $715 million in milestone payments, and high single-digit tiered royalties after product launch.

This collaboration has three strategic values: First, the potential total amount of $745 million is one of Hisun's largest business development transactions in recent years, which will provide ample cash flow; second, it will accelerate the project development process by leveraging AbbVie's global commercialization network; and third, it will validate Hisun's technological strength in the field of pain treatment, as Nav1.8, as a popular target for non-opioid analgesics, has broad clinical value and market prospects.

The deeper significance lies in the deepening of industrial division of labor —international pharmaceutical giants supplement their pipelines through external cooperation, while Chinese pharmaceutical companies leverage external partnerships to avoid the high costs of overseas clinical trials. This two-way selection reflects the improvement of China's hard power in innovative drugs.

>>Pipeline depth and R&D system

Hisun Pharmaceutical's double success stems from over two decades of R&D accumulation, resulting in a tiered product portfolio encompassing a batch of market-ready drugs, a batch in clinical trials, and a batch in reserve. Its core product, propofol, is China's first innovative intravenous anesthetic with completely independent intellectual property rights, and its market size reached 2.084 billion yuan in the three major domestic terminal markets by 2025. Coglitazone tablets, as an ultra-long-acting DPP-4 inhibitor, offer a significant advantage with once-weekly dosing. The overseas licensing of HSK39004 for NASH demonstrates the company's forward-looking strategy in the field of metabolic diseases.

In terms of its R&D system, Hisun Pharmaceutical has established three major R&D centers in Chengdu, Shanghai, and Silicon Valley, USA, forming a dual-application layout in China and the United States. As of the end of 2025, the company had applied for 1,285 patents (including 298 PCT international applications) and obtained 428 authorized patents; the company has 1,095 R&D personnel, of which approximately 44% hold master's degrees or above. Among them, the proportion of master's and doctoral degree holders in core R&D departments such as the New Drug Chemistry Department and the Biology Team is as high as 62%, providing a solid guarantee for the continuous output of high-quality projects.

In conclusion , while the market debates whether innovative drugs deserve high valuations, Hisun Pharmaceuticals has provided the answer through its performance and business development (BD) transactions: While short-term revenue surges driven by BD revenue recognition are certainly welcome, the true value lies in its ability to continuously produce innovative results. With the global development of projects such as HSK55718 progressing, Hisun Pharmaceuticals is making a significant contribution to the globalization of Chinese innovative drugs.

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