STAR Market Innovative Drugmakers' BD Licensing Deals Surpass USD 46 Billion

The 2026 first-half earnings season has drawn to a close. As innovative drugmakers have captured market attention with turnarounds in profitability and the monetization of business-development (BD) deals, upstream service providers, dominated by Contract X Organization (CXO) services, are emerging from a cyclical trough. Meanwhile, core pipelines spanning monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) continue to unlock value as clinical programs advance and new indications come to market, painting a picture of a stabilizing foundation for STAR Market biopharmaceutical companies with emerging growth drivers.

Innovative drugmakers are seeing continued growth in sales of core products, with commercialization and internationalization together driving earnings improvements. In the first half of 2026, for instance, BeOne Medicines posted operating revenue of RMB 22.22 billion and net profit of RMB 3.271 billion. Allist Pharmaceuticals maintained its leading position in the non-small cell lung cancer market, reporting operating revenue of RMB 3.32 billion and net profit of RMB 1.541 billion, up 39.85% and 46.57%, respectively, from a year earlier, sustaining a strong growth trajectory.

As core products continue to gain scale, STAR Market innovative drugmakers are also deepening their international partnerships, with milestone payments making a notable contribution to earnings. The total value of BD licensing deals by STAR Market innovative drugmakers has now surpassed USD 46 billion. Three companies—Sunshine Guojian Pharmaceutical, RemeGen, and InnoCare Pharma—have witnessed remarkable improvements in performance driven by BD transactions. (The Paper, Tian Zhongfang)