XianSheng Pharmaceuticals releases 2025 performance forecast and appoints Zhou Yunshu, former chairman of Hengrui Medicine, as CEO.

(Source: Caixin News)

          Zhou Yunshu was fined for insider trading.            

On March 26, Innovent Biologics (02096.HK) opened higher but closed lower. The stock closed at HK$11.18 per share on the day, down 1.324%. Earlier, the company released its latest performance data and also announced that Zhou Yunshu had been appointed as Chief Executive Officer.

On March 25, Innovent Biologics released its annual performance announcement. According to the announcement, its full-year total revenue was RMB 7.731 billion, up 16.5% year over year; revenue from innovative drugs was RMB 6.304 billion, up 27.9% year over year; and net profit attributable to the parent company was RMB 1.344 billion, up 86.2% year over year. Of these, revenue from innovative drugs accounted for 81.5% of the total, reaching a record high.

In 2025, two innovative drugs were approved for commercialization, namely the next-generation insomnia drug Koovieo® (darelisarin hydrochloride tablets) for global markets, and Enzeu® (suvixisita mab injection) for the first domestically developed broad indication for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer across all patient groups. At present, Innovent Biologics has 10 marketed innovative drugs.

By business area, in 2025, Innovent Biologics’ neuroscience segment generated revenue of RMB 2.753 billion, up 26.6% year over year; its oncology segment generated revenue of RMB 1.987 billion, up significantly 53.0% year over year; and its immunology segment generated revenue of RMB 1.892 billion, up 4.5% year over year. In addition, Innovent has more than five innovative drugs nearing commercialization, which are expected to be approved in 2026–2028.

In terms of R&D, in 2025 full-year R&D expenditure was RMB 2.076 billion, up 35.7%, accounting for 26.8% of total revenue. In 2025, Innovent added 7 Phase I clinical trials, 2 Phase II/III clinical trials, 2 applications for marketing, and 2 approvals for marketing; multiple R&D projects achieved milestone progress.

Regarding external licensing, in 2025, Innovent licensed three early-stage oncology products in the research and development pipeline to AbbVie in the United States, NextCure in the United States, and Ipsen in France, respectively. According to data from Zhishang Consulting, the number of this transaction ranks jointly at No. 1 among external licensing transactions in China’s oncology field in 2025, and the transaction total ranks No. 4. In early 2026, Innovent’s self-developed immunology bispecific antibody SIM0709 was licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany.

According to company data, as of March 2026, Innovent has 5 early-stage R&D projects “going global,” with potential transaction amounts exceeding USD 4.6 billion. Of these, in 2025, the company had already achieved an upfront payment and R&D milestone payments totaling USD 154 million.

On the same day it released its performance data, Innovent Biologics announced that Zhou Yunshu was appointed as Chief Executive Officer. He previously worked at China XinDai Biotech (01801.HK) and Hansoh Pharmaceutical (600276.SH). Zhou Yunshu will receive an annual remuneration of HKD 6 million, plus discretionary bonuses. During his tenure at Hansoh Pharmaceutical, he served as a member of the foreign trade department, director and deputy director of the development department, vice president, general manager, and chairman, among other roles.

It is worth noting that, in its announcement, Innovent Biologics also disclosed a prior penalty involving Zhou Yunshu. According to the “Administrative Penalty Decision” issued by the Heilongjiang Securities Regulatory Bureau on September 19, 2022, Zhou Yunshu was identified as having known insider information regarding the cooperation agreement to be drafted by Hansoh Pharmaceutical (603520.SH) and its subsidiaries, and between April and May 2020, he used third-party accounts to buy and sell Zhejiang SiTaili shares. Such actions were determined to constitute insider trading. Therefore, Zhou Yunshu was subject to administrative penalties, including confiscation of illegal gains of RMB 450,000 and a fine of RMB 500,000.

In its announcement, Innovent Biologics stated that when appointing Zhou Yunshu as Chief Executive Officer, it had carefully assessed the matter of his insider trading. The company has conducted extensive background checks on him, including obtaining comprehensive evaluations and acknowledgements from well-known figures in the industry regarding his performance over his 30-year career (including his business capabilities and personal character). It also considered his experience in driving Hansoh Pharmaceutical’s transformation into an innovative drug company.

In addition, Innovent Biologics believes that this insider trading case is an individual incident that has already been subject to administrative penalties, and therefore cannot reflect his overall professional conduct. At the same time, it has issued a letter of commitment, confirming that he will participate in relevant legal training regarding the insider trading. Therefore, the company still made the appointment decision at the corporate level.

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