Henlius posts 27% first-half revenue growth as global launches expand

Henlius said first-half 2026 revenue rose 27.3% to RMB 3.59 billion, driven by stronger global sales and rising international approvals for its cancer drug serplulimab. The Shanghai biopharma also lifted R&D spending and signed new partnerships as it pushes its Globalization 2.0 strategy.

Why it matters: - Henlius is showing that its global expansion strategy is moving from regulatory progress to commercial traction. - The company’s overseas sales, partnerships and approvals are building a broader revenue base beyond China. - Serplulimab and the biosimilar portfolio are now contributing to international growth across Europe and other major markets.

What happened: - Henlius reported first-half 2026 revenue of RMB 3.5882 billion, up 27.3% year over year. - Net profit reached RMB 430.4 million, an increase of 10.3% from a year earlier. - Non-IFRS profit rose to RMB 572.3 million, up 46.7% year over year. - Adjusted EBITDA climbed 35.2% to RMB 904.1 million. - The company said the results were supported by expanding global sales of marketed products and lean operational execution. - Henlius now has 10 marketed products approved in more than 60 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania. - Those products have reached more than 1.1 million patients worldwide.

The details: - Global product sales in the first half reached RMB 2.9386 billion, up 14.9% year over year. - Ex-China product revenue jumped 159.4% to RMB 105.3 million. - Ex-China product profit rose to RMB 59.5 million, more than four times the level in the first half of 2025. - Serplulimab, sold as Hetronifly® in Europe and HANSIZHUANG in mainland China, generated RMB 597.5 million in global sales. - In June 2026, China’s NMPA approved serplulimab for perioperative treatment of gastric cancer. - Serplulimab is the world’s first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for first-line extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer. - Serplulimab is also the first and only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for perioperative treatment of gastric cancer. - The drug has marketing clearances in more than 50 countries and regions. - In the European Union, serplulimab has approvals for four indications: extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, oesophageal squamous-cell carcinoma, advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer and advanced squamous non-small-cell lung cancer. - The medicine is reimbursed through national public healthcare systems in 12 European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden. - Henlius’ breast-cancer biosimilar franchise generated RMB 1.6983 billion in global sales. - HANBEIYOU, a pertuzumab biosimilar sold as POHERDY® in the U.S. and EU, received marketing authorizations from the European Commission and China’s NMPA in early 2026. - HANBEIYOU is the first and only Chinese-developed pertuzumab biosimilar approved in China, the U.S. and the EU. - Together with HANQUYOU, a trastuzumab biosimilar, the portfolio became the first Chinese-developed trastuzumab-plus-pertuzumab dual HER2-targeted regimen approved across China, the U.S. and the EU. - HLX04, a bevacizumab biosimilar sold as Hanbeitai in China, is under U.S. FDA Biologics License Application review. - HLX04’s approved indications globally include metastatic colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, recurrent glioblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, epithelial ovarian cancer and cervical cancer. - Henlius signed three strategic partnerships during 2026. - Eisai received exclusive rights to commercialize serplulimab in Japan. - Abbott will help broaden serplulimab’s reach across Asia-Pacific, Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. - Sandoz agreed to a biosimilar alliance covering up to ten assets for global markets. - The company is building a hybrid commercial model that combines in-house international teams with third-party partners. - R&D spending in the first half rose 45.7% to RMB 1.4507 billion. - Henlius said it is developing more than 50 early-stage pipeline molecules across oncology, immunology, neuroscience and metabolic disease. - HLX43, a PD-L1 ADC, is advancing in global Phase 2 and Phase 2/3 trials in non-small-cell lung cancer across China, Europe, the U.S., Japan and Australia. - Global enrollment across HLX43 studies has exceeded 1,500 patients. - Dulpatatug, also called HLX22, began first-patient enrollment in an international Phase 3 trial for HER2-positive gastric cancer across China, the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Latin America. - Several IND applications for tetraspecific and trispecific T-cell engagers, bispecific ADCs and small-molecule inhibitors are planned for the second half of 2026. - Several biosimilar candidates are moving through parallel clinical development in China and the U.S., with multiple programs reaching first-patient dosing in both markets.

Between the lines: - Henlius is pairing near-term international sales with a deeper pipeline to reduce reliance on any single product. - The company’s global approvals suggest it is trying to turn China-developed assets into multi-region commercial products, not just local launches. - The partnership strategy with Eisai, Abbott and Sandoz signals a shift toward shared global commercialization rather than a purely self-built overseas sales model. - Heavy R&D spending suggests management is still prioritizing future pipeline depth even as current products scale.

What’s next: - Henlius plans to keep advancing HLX43 and HLX22 through global clinical trials. - The company expects several IND submissions in the second half of 2026. - More biosimilar programs will continue through parallel development in China and the U.S. - By 2030, Henlius aims to launch 10 additional products globally, with more than five targeted for Europe and the U.S.

The bottom line: - Henlius is using profits from marketed drugs to fund a broader global push, while its most important assets keep clearing regulatory and commercial hurdles.