Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is no longer just a local biopharma heavyweight. With a record-breaking and 450x oversubscribed IPO raising USD 1.27 billion, a flurry of global licensing deals with the likes of Merck and GSK, and a bold push into competitive therapeutic areas like obesity, the company is staking its claim as a global R&D force.
Billion-Dollar IPO & Global Ambitions
When Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals launched its long-awaited debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) this year, it was not simply raising capital; it was making a statement. The USD 1.3 billion listing, the largest healthcare IPO in Hong Kong in nearly five years, was oversubscribed nearly 455 times, underscoring immense investor confidence.
While many Chinese firms are seeking HKEX listings to gain international visibility, Hengrui had a more focused agenda: 75 percent of the proceeds are earmarked specifically for research and development. For China’s largest drugmaker by market value, the IPO is a strategic springboard to fund innovation and scale global ambitions.
An Innovation Leader
Since going public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2000, the company began pivoting toward novel therapies; a shift that gained full momentum in 2008.
Today, innovative drugs account for around half of Hengrui’s business, and its R&D spend has exceeded USD 6.35 billion in recent years. This investment has not only fuelled pipeline growth but also earned global recognition: Hengrui is the only Chinese pharmaceutical company to rank among Citeline’s global Top 10 pharma pipelines, alongside Pfizer, Roche, and AstraZeneca.
The drugmaker’s current pipeline spans more than 90 in-house therapies in clinical development and 400 clinical trials, including over 20 international studies. Its areas of focus are expansive – oncology, cardiometabolic diseases, immunology, respiratory conditions, and neuroscience – positioning Hengrui as a full-spectrum innovator.
Global pharma has taken note, with Hengrui recently closing a landmark USD 500 million collaboration deal with GSK, granting rights to 12 of its drug programmes, including a promising candidate for a chronic lung condition. Under the agreement, Hengrui will develop the assets up through Phase I, at which point GSK will have the option to move them forward and pursue commercialisation outside of China.
“This strategic collaboration with GSK marks yet another significant milestone in Hengrui’s journey,” said Chief Strategy Officer Frank Jiang. “GSK brings additional R&D expertise, a robust global clinical network, and broad regulatory capabilities that will accelerate our PDE3/4 inhibitor as well as an array of other innovative therapy programs to overseas markets.”
To date, the company has struck 14 external licensing collaborations for innovative drugs, with 9 agreements made in the past three years. Other recent highlight include the USD 200 million ex-China licensing deal with Merck for a Phase II heart disease candidate in May and last year’s USD 6 billion licensing agreement with Kailera Therapeutics for its obesity drug pipeline.
Hengrui’s out-licensing drive has become an important growth engine for the company and its financial impact is tangible. In Q1 2025 the firm’s earnings showed that licensing income significantly boosted profits by 20 percent year-over-year.
Obesity Challenger
One of Hengrui’s boldest bets is in the increasingly competitive obesity market. Its candidate HRS9531, a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist developed in partnership with Kailera, recently posted remarkable Phase III data in China. Patients experienced up to 19.2 percent weight loss over 48 weeks, with no plateau—comparable to, if not exceeding, current global leaders like Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.
The company is now preparing to file a New Drug Application (NDA) in China for chronic weight management. Meanwhile, Kailera will spearhead global trials, pushing toward international regulatory approval.
This milestone puts Hengrui on the map as a serious challenger in a multibillion-dollar space—and underscores the strategic value of its international alliances.
What’s Next: Advanced Modalities and Deeper Innovation
Hengrui continues to pursue new areas and is actively expanding into next-gen modalities, including antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), small nucleic acids and cell and gene therapies (CGTs).
To support this move, it deepened its collaboration in 2024 with Shanghai Medicilon, a major CRO, to enhance its preclinical R&D capabilities in these frontier areas.
Meanwhile, Hengrui is maintaining its international scientific visibility, particularly in the field of oncology. At the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting it showcased results from 72 studies across oncology.
