Maiwei Biotech's revenue doubled last year, with losses exceeding 900 million yuan! Since listing, the cumulative loss has surpassed 4 billion yuan, attempting to break into the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

On the evening of March 24, Weiwei Biotech (688062.SH) released its 2025 annual report. The company achieved total operating revenue of RMB 663 million, up 231.62% year over year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB -969 million, with losses narrowing year over year. Weiwei Biotech’s operating revenue mainly came from drug sales revenue of RMB 250 million and technology service revenue of RMB 409 million.

In terms of R&D, Weiwei Biotech’s R&D investment in 2025 was RMB 977 million, up 24.79% compared with 2024. Several in-development products were advanced in clinical trials—especially key registration clinical studies—resulting in relatively high R&D expenses for the company.

As of the date of disclosure of the annual report, Weiwei Biotech has 14 key products in preclinical research, clinical research, or commercialization stages, including 10 innovative drugs and 4 biosimilars. It focuses on oncology and age-related diseases, such as immunology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and other areas. In 2025, the company’s first innovative drug, Agcrystin α for injection (WeiLiZhi®), was approved for commercialization.

Regarding the reasons for changes in operating revenue, Weiwei Biotech stated in the annual report that operating revenue increased 231.62% year over year during the reporting period, mainly because the company confirmed relatively large revenue amounts under authorization and licensing agreements with Qilu Pharmaceutical and DISC. At the same time, drug sales revenue was RMB 250 million, up RMB 105 million from the same period last year, representing a 72.71% increase. Among this, sales revenue of disocrtumumab for bone disease and cancer treatment was RMB 206 million, up 48.59% year over year.

Since 2025, Weiwei Biotech has reached BD collaborations with Kalexo, Qilu Pharmaceutical, and CALICO, respectively. In the transaction with Kalexo, Weiwei Biotech adopted the NewCo model for the first time to carry out a BD collaboration. Weiwei Biotech said that 2025 is a very critical year for its innovative drug BD business, and it has already achieved multiple breakthroughs, including IL-11 monoclonal antibody, Agcrystin α for injection, and dual-target siRNA innovation drug 2MW7141, among other products, all of which achieved external authorization and collaboration.

Wind data shows that since its establishment in 2017, Weiwei Biotech has not achieved profitability. Since its listing in 2022, it has accumulated losses of over RMB 4 billion. With a relatively high asset-liability ratio and increasing R&D expenses, Weiwei Biotech applied to list in Hong Kong in 2025. In November 2025, Weiwei Biotech received from the China Securities Regulatory Commission the “Filing Notification Letter for the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Weiwei (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notification Letter”).

Regarding issues such as the progress of the company’s Hong Kong stock listing and the company’s performance, a reporter from The Times Weekly contacted Weiwei Biotech by phone and email. As of the time of publication, no effective reply had been received.

On March 25, Weiwei Biotech’s share price closed at RMB 32.82 per share, up 1.36%.

Image source: Photo by Chuangyi

Multiple BD deals drove a surge in revenue

In its 2025 annual report, Weiwei Biotech introduced that during the reporting period, the company’s revenue from its main business was RMB 659 million, up 229.97% from the previous year. Main business cost was RMB 60.8503 million, up 110.47% from the previous year. This was mainly because the authorization and licensing agreements with Qilu Pharmaceutical and DISC confirmed relatively large revenue amounts. In 2025, Weiwei Biotech reached multiple BD collaborations with domestic and overseas pharmaceutical companies, which also became its primary sources of operating revenue.

On September 17, 2025, Weiwei Biotech announced that it signed an “Exclusive License Agreement” and a “Preferred Equity Purchase Agreement” with Kalexo regarding the 2MW7141 project. Weiwei Biotech licensed Kalexo the rights to exclusively develop, manufacture, and commercialize the licensed products related to the 2MW7141 project globally, as well as to develop licensed products in other ways.

Weiwei Biotech will receive from Kalexo up to USD 1 billion in upfront payments and milestone payments, including a cash upfront payment and a near-term payment of USD 12 million. Weiwei Biotech will also receive, under the agreed conditions, additional A-round preferred shares totaling in the double digits of Kalexo’s overall number. The above BD transaction is also the first time Weiwei Biotech used the NewCo model for overseas cooperation.

Weiwei Biotech introduced that 2MW7141 is a dual-target small nucleic acid drug independently developed by the company in the preclinical stage. It mainly targets lipid regulation in populations with dyslipidemia and the prevention of high-risk cardiovascular events. It is expected that the IND applications for the U.S. and China will be submitted in 2026.

Earlier, on the evening of June 26, 2025, Weiwei Biotech announced that it had reached cooperation agreements with Qilu Pharmaceutical and CALICO, respectively.

Weiwei Biotech and its wholly owned subsidiary, Taikang Biotech, signed an agreement with Qilu Pharmaceutical regarding the commercialization product Agcrystin α for injection. They granted Qilu Pharmaceutical the rights to develop, manufacture, improve, use, and commercialize the licensed products within Greater China. The upfront payment and sales milestone payments in this transaction total up to RMB 500 million, including a one-time non-refundable upfront payment of RMB 380 million, among others.

At the same time, Weiwei Biotech also intends to sign an agreement with CALICO, an anti-aging company under Google, for IL-11 targeted therapy (including 9MW3811). It licenses CALICO the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the licensed products in all regions other than Greater China. CALICO will pay Weiwei Biotech a one-time non-refundable upfront payment of USD 25 million. In addition, Weiwei Biotech may also receive additional near-term, development, registration, and commercialization milestone payments totaling up to USD 571 million.

In 2025, the innovative drug industry in China saw a major surge in BD transactions. According to data released by the National Medical Products Administration, the total value of innovative drug external authorization transactions in China in 2025 exceeded USD 130 billion, with more than 150 authorization transactions—reaching a historical high. Weiwei Biotech is also a participant in the wave of innovative drug BD transactions in 2025.

For its layout of innovative drug BD business, Weiwei Biotech previously also pointed out in its responses to institutional research and survey that the company is actively advancing other innovative drug BD businesses, with pipeline assets including Nectin-4 ADC, B7-H3 ADC, CDH17 ADC, ST2 monoclonal antibody, and multiple preclinical pipelines. At the same time, the company consistently believes that BD business itself has uncertainty.

Seeking a listing in Hong Kong

Wind data shows that since its establishment in 2017, Weiwei Biotech has not achieved profitability. After its listing on the STAR Market in 2022, Weiwei Biotech’s net profit attributable to shareholders from 2022 to 2025 was loss of RMB 955 million, RMB 1.053 billion, RMB 1.044 billion, and RMB 969 million, respectively, with cumulative losses exceeding RMB 4 billion.

According to Wind data, since its listing in 2022, Weiwei Biotech’s asset-liability ratios have been 24.00%, 42.24%, 63.61%, and 88.30%, respectively, increasing year by year.

Meanwhile, Weiwei Biotech is also investing heavily in R&D. In its 2025 annual report, Weiwei Biotech also stated that during the reporting period, the company invested substantial funds in preclinical research, clinical trials, and preparations for new drug commercialization for its product pipeline. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, the company’s R&D expenses were RMB 836 million, RMB 783 million, and RMB 977 million, respectively. As of the date of disclosure of this report, the company has 10 main in-development products. The execution of activities such as preclinical research, clinical trials, and preparations for new drug commercialization still requires large-scale R&D investment.

Against this backdrop, Weiwei Biotech also chose to broaden its financing channels and applied to list in Hong Kong in 2025. On August 29, 2025, Weiwei Biotech released an announcement stating that it had, on August 29, 2025, re-submitted its application to issue H-share stocks to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and list on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and on the same day published the application materials for this issuance on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Previously, on January 6, Weiwei Biotech had also submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited.

Weiwei Biotech previously said that a Hong Kong listing is to meet the capital needs for the company’s business and development, achieve sustainable development, and enhance internationalization. According to the prospectus, Weiwei Biotech plans to use the raised funds for the development of its core product 9MW2821 targeting multiple indications and clinical trials at different stages; for the development of other pipeline products for oncology and age-related diseases with substantial clinical demand; and additionally for commercial purposes and general corporate funding.

Weiwei Biotech received the “Notification Letter” issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission in November 2025. In its earlier responses to institutional research and surveys, Weiwei Biotech also pointed out that currently, all review and approval procedures are progressing smoothly. Regarding the specific issuance size and price, the company will conduct a comprehensive assessment by fully considering the interests of existing shareholders, the value reflected by the company, and the conditions of capital markets both domestically and internationally.

It is worth noting that relevant shareholders of Weiwei Biotech also faced a trust crisis in 2025. On the evening of August 4, 2025, Weiwei Biotech announced that its chairman and general manager, Liu Datong, received from the Shanghai regulatory bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission an “Administrative Penalty Decision” for suspected short-swing trading. From January 18, 2022 to July 18, 2022, Liu Datong used Zhou’s securities account to cumulatively buy 966,600 shares of “Weiwei Biotech,” totaling RMB 19.2977 million in transaction value. He cumulatively sold 634,300 shares of “Weiwei Biotech,” totaling RMB 13.8836 million in transaction value.

Pursuant to Articles 44 and 189 of the Securities Law, Liu Datong was given a warning and fined RMB 600,000. Weiwei Biotech said that the above decision will not have a major impact on the company’s day-to-day operations.

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