What happened
Wind data showed that, as of Aug 30 at 22:50, 508 A-share pharmaceutical companies had disclosed their 2026 half-year reports. Among them, 191 firms reported year-on-year growth in net profit attributable to shareholders, including 40 with growth exceeding 100%. The sector displayed clear structural improvement, with profit increases among leading companies, strong growth from high-performing names, and a wave of innovative drugmakers turning profitable.
In terms of profit scale, CXO giant WuXi AppTec led the industry with first-half net profit of 11.08 billion yuan, up 29.43% year on year and marking the first time its first-half profit exceeded 10 billion yuan. Its chemistry business, a key growth driver, generated revenue of 24.99 billion yuan, up 53.3%. Joinn Laboratories also stood out, with first-half net profit surging 1126.8% to 748 million yuan, supported by an order rebound that lifted on-hand orders to about 3.7 billion yuan, up 60.9%.
Several innovative drug companies reversed year-earlier losses. CSPC Innovation reported first-half net profit of 1.261 billion yuan, helped by an AstraZeneca upfront payment of 420 million U.S. dollars and a Corbus milestone payment of 10 million U.S. dollars. RemeGen posted net profit of 4.662 billion yuan, turning around from a loss of 450 million yuan a year earlier, partly due to an AbbVie exclusive licensing deal for RC148 that included an upfront payment of about 650 million U.S. dollars.
Why it matters
Analysts attribute the recovery to a new prosperity cycle in the innovative drug sector, supported by government policies across the entire industry chain, favorable talent reserves, and higher R&D efficiency. Chinese innovative drug companies are now seen as globally competitive, and as some multinational pharma firms face patent cliffs, demand for external procurement and pipeline expansion is rising.
Domestic drugmakers are seizing this opportunity through business development deals, primarily overseas licensing, to commercialize their innovations globally. This trend is expected to usher in a new round of high growth, with companies increasingly moving from licensing out projects to deeper global clinical and commercialization development.
Key facts
As of Aug 30, 22:50, 508 A-share pharma companies disclosed 2026 half-year reports; 191 saw net profit growth and 40 grew over 100%.
WuXi AppTec's first-half net profit was 11.08 billion yuan, up 29.43%; its chemistry business revenue grew 53.3% to 24.99 billion yuan.
BeiGene's first-half net profit reached 3.271 billion yuan, up 627.1%, with product revenue rising to 21.797 billion yuan from 17.360 billion yuan.
Joinn Laboratories' first-half net profit jumped 1126.8% to 748 million yuan; on-hand orders grew 60.9% to about 3.7 billion yuan.
CSPC Innovation reported a first-half net profit of 1.261 billion yuan, helped by 420 million U.S. dollars from AstraZeneca and 10 million U.S. dollars from Corbus.
RemeGen's first-half net profit was 4.662 billion yuan, reversing a 4.5 billion yuan loss; an AbbVie deal for RC148 included an upfront of about 650 million U.S. dollars.
What to watch next
Leading companies are deepening global clinical development and regulatory submissions. Hengrui Pharma's innovative drug rezvilutamide has had its European marketing application accepted by the EMA, while its total R&D investment in the first half rose 18.96% to 4.605 billion yuan.
CSPC Innovation is advancing more than ten drugs in clinical or late-stage development across antibody, ADC, and mRNA vaccine platforms, aiming to build a differentiated pipeline and expand production and commercialization globally.
RemeGen said it has seven molecules in clinical development for dozens of indications, with commercially launched drugs Telitacicept and Disitamab vedotin progressing through trials in China and the U.S., while molecules such as RC28, RC118, RC148, RC278, and RC288 continue to advance.