Decline in Terminal Market Demand: Kelun Pharmaceutical's Net Profit Last Year Dropped Over 40% Year-on-Year | Financial Report Analysis

Translated from: Caixin Media

Caixin Media, April 2 (Reporter He Fan) — Affected by factors such as a decline in demand in terminal markets, in the past year, Corden Pharma (002422.SZ) delivered its first double decline in revenue and net profit in nearly five years. At the same time, the company’s subsidiaries, Biopharmaceutical Co. (301301.SZ) and CordenBota Biopharmaceutical-B (06990.HK), also saw year-on-year decreases in revenue due to multiple reasons.

This evening, Corden Pharma released an announcement. In 2023, the company recorded operating revenue of RMB 18.513 billion, a year-on-year decline of 15.13%; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was RMB 1.702 billion, a year-on-year decline of 42.03%.

Regarding the reasons for the performance decline, the company explained that for infusion and non-infusion pharmaceutical products, decreased demand in terminal markets led to a reduction in product sales volume, and the impact of centralized procurement also contributed to a year-on-year decline in net profit. In addition, profits at both subsidiaries declined year-on-year. Specifically, for Biopharmaceutical Co., the prices of its penicillin products fell, sales volume of some products decreased, and costs increased due to new product research and development and trial production. For CordenBota Biopharmaceutical, sales revenue from its innovative drug product grew significantly, but profit decreased year-on-year because authorization and milestone income declined and research and development expenses increased. Second, profits of equity-accounted investees decreased, leading to a year-on-year decline in investment income.

By business segment, due to a decline in incidence rates of infectious diseases such as influenza and the impact of medical insurance cost controls, the company’s main business infusion products achieved sales volume of 3.986 billion bottles/bags, down 8.31% year-on-year; sales revenue was RMB 7.484 billion, down 16.02% year-on-year. On the other hand, sales revenue from the company’s non-infusion drugs was RMB 4.036 billion, down 3.20% year-on-year. In addition, due to fluctuations in demand in the penicillin market, the company’s antibiotic intermediates and API achieved operating revenue of RMB 4.497 billion, down 23.20% year-on-year.

In terms of overseas business, during the reporting period, Corden Pharma’s overseas revenue was RMB 2.488 billion, down 13.14% year-on-year, mainly because overseas authorization revenue of CordenBota Biopharmaceutical declined.

Regarding the health and wellness business that the market generally focuses on, Corden Pharma stated that last year this segment achieved its strategic goals of positioning, generating revenue, and achieving profitability within the same year. The sales team improved product penetration step by step through offline entity channels in the places of origin as well as sales through major online platforms in China.

On expenses, in 2023 the company’s R&D investment was RMB 2.2 billion, basically flat compared with 2024, and R&D expense as a proportion of sales revenue was 11.91%. Currently, the company has laid out more than 30 innovative R&D pipelines (clinical and preclinical), mainly focused on cancer treatment. Its subsidiary CordenBota Biopharmaceutical has more than 10 ADC and novel conjugated drug pipelines. During the reporting period, the company made certain progress in R&D. Botechurtuzumab (Boduo) was approved in October 2025, becoming the first domestically approved HER2 ADC in China for 2L+HER2+BC. In addition, in January last year, the PD-L1 antibody — toripalimab — in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for first-line treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic NPC was approved by the National Medical Products Administration for listing in China.

In addition, the company’s investee company, Chenxin Pharmaceutical (603367.SH), has also disclosed its 2025 annual report. Last year, Chenxin Pharmaceutical achieved operating revenue of RMB 3.445 billion, down 13.48% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent was RMB 0.421 billion, down 17.22% year-on-year. Among them, the large-volume injection segment achieved revenue of RMB 1.431 billion, down 17.67%.

(Caixin Media reporter He Fan)

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