As the disclosure of the 2026 interim report comes to an end, a new mainline has emerged in the biopharmaceutical industry.

In the past decade, China's innovative drugs have talked about pipelines, data, and the "stars and sea". Whoever has a sexier story and greater imagination is more likely to obtain capital chips.

But by 2026, the focus of market attention is changing.

For the first time, the market has shifted its focus from the "story" to the "ledger": who has already made money? How was this money earned? How long can this earning ability last?

These three questions may be the most important clues for dismantling the 2026 interim reports of biopharmaceutical companies.

01. Who made money

In this round of interim reports, the most noteworthy is another group of companies that have crossed the profit and loss line.

Kolombotai is one of the typical samples. In the first half of 2026, Kolombotai achieved a revenue of 978 million yuan and a net profit of 388 million yuan, marking the first time it has achieved profitability since going public.

More importantly, there have been changes in the income structure. In the first half of 2024, almost all of Kolombotai's revenue comes from external licensing income.

But in the first half of 2026, out of the 978 million yuan in revenue, licensing revenue was 315 million yuan, accounting for approximately 32% of the total revenue; The sales revenue of the product reached 657 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 112%, which has exceeded the total sales for the whole year of 2025 and accounted for about 67% of the total revenue in the first half of the year.

This means that the growth logic of Kolombotai is undergoing a change. In the past, it relied more on the cash flow brought by BD; Now, product sales are becoming a true source of income. In other words, this company is moving from "relying on trading for blood transfusion" to "relying on products for blood production".

The performance of Rongchang Biotechnology has undergone even more drastic changes. In 2025, Rongchang Biotechnology successfully turned around its losses and achieved a net profit of 710 million yuan. In the first half of 2026, Rongchang Biotechnology's revenue reached 5.853 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 433%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 4.662 billion yuan, a significant increase compared to 2025.

Although the transaction with AbbVie for RC148 brought a considerable down payment income to Rongchang Biotechnology, the commercial volume of Taitacept and Vediximab is also the core driving force for Rongchang Biotechnology's revenue growth.

In top companies, profit growth is more direct. BeiGene's revenue in the first half of the year was 22.22 billion yuan, with a net profit attributable to the parent company of 3.271 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 627% in profit; Xinda Biology's revenue was 8.618 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.8%, with a net profit of 1.253 billion yuan; Hanson Pharmaceutical achieved a revenue of 8.304 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%, of which innovation revenue (including BD) was 7.092 billion yuan, accounting for 85.4%.

If in the past few years, 'commercialization capability' was more of a high-frequency term in capital market reports, then by 2026, it will begin to become specific profit and loss statements. Making money is no longer just a goal, but is becoming a reality for some Chinese biotech companies.  

02. How to earn it

But 'who made the money' is just the result. What is truly worth unraveling is where the money comes from.

Looking at this round of interim reports, the current profit path of innovative drugs in China still mainly relies on two paths: BD and product sales.

Let's take a look at BD. If in the past few years, the overseas expansion of Chinese innovative drugs has been mostly limited to "occasional large orders", then in the first half of 2026, transactions have begun to show stronger continuity.
According to statistics from Arterial Think Tank, there were approximately 240 BD transactions for innovative drugs in China in the first half of the year, accounting for 71% of the total transaction volume for the year 2025; The total transaction amount reached 106.3 billion US dollars, close to 135.655 billion US dollars for the whole of last year.

In the first half of the year, the total down payment for BD reached 6.158 billion US dollars, accounting for 5.8% of the total transaction amount, up from 5.2% in the whole of last year. The number of transactions is increasing, the transaction amount is increasing, and the down payment that actually enters the enterprise account is also increasing.
More noteworthy is the quality of transactions. In the first half of the year, Chinese companies accounted for 8 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical license out transactions.  

The scale of single transactions has begun to frequently enter the range of billions of dollars.

Among them, in January of this year, the strategic cooperation between Shiyao Group and AstraZeneca reached a potential total value of 18.5 billion US dollars; In May of this year, Hengrui Pharmaceutical reached a potential licensing agreement with BMS worth approximately $15.2 billion, and the potential cooperation between Xinda Biotechnology and Pfizer could reach up to $10.5 billion.

These transactions are not just news in the capital market. They have started to directly enter the company's profit and loss statement.

Shiyao Group's revenue in the first half of the year was 18.594 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 40.1%; Net profit was 6.094 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 139.2%, of which external authorization revenue alone contributed 5.895 billion yuan.

Behind the performance growth or turnaround of companies such as Konya, Kolombotai, and Zejing Pharmaceuticals, the presence of BD transactions can also be seen.

In the past, Chinese biotech mainly sought buyers in the global pharmaceutical industry chain. Now, they are beginning to have more bargaining power. Chinese innovative drugs have also entered the global pharmaceutical trading system on a larger scale as "sellers" for the first time.

But problems also arise. BD's money is not the same for every dollar.

The down payment is real money, but potential transaction amounts that can easily reach billions or even tens of billions of dollars often require a series of milestones such as clinical trials, registration, and sales.

The total amount written in the press release does not equal the revenue that can ultimately enter the income statement. Therefore, BD can bring cash and verify asset value, but it ultimately cannot completely replace product sales.

This leads to the second path, which is product sales. To determine whether an innovative pharmaceutical company can make long-term profits, it ultimately depends on how much the product can sell. The most typical sample is Zebutinib from BeiGene.

In the first half of 2026, the global sales of this BTK inhibitor reached 16.127 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.7%. Among them, in the US market, the sales of Zebutinib reached 11.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.2%, making it the best-selling BTK inhibitor.

Another sample is Alex EGFR stage III lung cancer targeted drug Fumatinib Mesylate tablets. In the first half of 2026, Elys achieved a revenue of 3.32 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.85%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.541 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.57%. Among them, the sales revenue of Fumetinib reached 3.138 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 95% of the total revenue, becoming a super product that supports the performance of Elys.  

What does this mean? When a Chinese biotech company shifts its focus from "storytelling financing" to "selling a drug for billions of yuan," it has actually crossed a critical watershed.

In the past, research and development relied on financing, while growth relied on expectations; Now, product sales are starting to generate sustained cash flow, which in turn supports research and development, commercialization, and even shareholder returns.

This is the true meaning of China's innovative drugs' "self generation" - no longer relying on the capital market to constantly inject blood, nor can they only sell pipelines to others, but starting to feed the next round of innovation with their own products.  

03. Who will make money in the future

What the 2026 interim report truly reveals is a paradigm shift in China's innovative drug business model. 

 
In the past, the value realization of Chinese biotechnology heavily relied on two paths. The first one is financing, which continuously raises funds through the primary and secondary markets to support research and development, clinical practice, and pipeline expansion. The second point is BD, which authorizes assets to MNC and continues to support the next round of research and development with down payments and milestone income when one does not have sufficient commercialization capabilities.  

But now, both of these paths have changed. The financing market no longer provides unlimited fuel, and although BD is hot, it also means that companies must accept the screening of global buyers - especially when buyers themselves are becoming picky.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot has pointed out that if the existing product pipeline meets expectations, even without additional BD, AstraZeneca can achieve its revenue target of $80 billion by 2030; Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker stated that the company has no survival pressure and will only choose transactions that are financially reasonable and the team is capable of advancing; Gilead has made it clear that it is not expected to conduct large-scale mergers and acquisitions this year.

The door to BD is indeed getting wider and wider, but the threshold is also getting higher and higher
Stories can help you open the door, but what truly determines whether a transaction can be completed is still hard power.

Therefore, new paths are becoming increasingly important: selling products globally and binding global pharmaceutical companies through deeper cooperation to share long-term commercial benefits. And ultimately, this ability depends on the platform.

To judge whether a company can make money in the future, it is not necessarily about what it sells today, but about what it has locked in in advance. Firstly, it is the construction of the technology platform.

Kangfang Biotechnology has established its industry position through the globally leading Tetrabody dual antibody platform and further expanded into IO 2.0, ADC, and other directions; Konya started from monoclonal antibodies and gradually constructed coverage bispecific antibodies ADC、 A platform system for various technological routes such as oligonucleotides and PROTAC.

A blockbuster drug can bring one success, but a mature platform means the possibility of constantly replicating the next blockbuster. The deeper the platform and the wider the technological boundary, the higher the probability of crossing the next technological cycle.

Some companies also engage in external mergers and acquisitions to lock in high-quality technology platforms in advance, such as China Biopharmaceutical's acquisition of Lixin Pharmaceutical for 950 million US dollars, laying out ADC platforms, and later laying out Hejia's siRNA delivery technology. Instead of waiting for internal R&D to slowly develop capabilities, it is better to directly fill in the next generation technology map through capital mergers and acquisitions.

Secondly, it is the upgrading of the cooperative relationship. Xinda Biology is a typical case.

In the past year, Xinda Biotechnology has completed three major transactions in a row: on October 22, 2025, Xinda and Takeda reached a global strategic cooperation, with a total potential amount of up to 11.4 billion US dollars and a down payment of 1.2 billion US dollars, involving three core assets in the IO and ADC fields; On February 8, 2026, the seventh cooperation with Eli Lilly was launched, with a total potential amount of 8.85 billion US dollars and a down payment of 350 million US dollars; On May 29th of the same year, Xinda and Huiruida reached a cooperation agreement with a total amount of 10.5 billion US dollars to package and authorize 12 early cancer projects.

But what is more noteworthy than numbers is the change in transaction structure. From joint development and joint promotion to global division of labor at different stages, the way Chinese biotech participates in global drug research and development is becoming more profound. Taking the collaboration with Pfizer as an example, Xinda is responsible for advancing the project to Phase I clinical trials, and Pfizer will lead global development and commercialization thereafter.

This reflects the changing role of Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies in the global industrial chain. They are no longer just "pipeline suppliers" providing assets to MNCs, but are beginning to participate in the global R&D system in a deeper way and share the long-term value created by the commercialization of innovative drugs.

From "selling products" to "joint development", from one-time transactions to longer-term interest binding, Chinese biotech is gradually moving from a participant in the global pharmaceutical industry chain to a true partner.  

- Write at the end -

The 2026 midterm report is more like a silent midterm exam. The ability accumulated by China's innovative drugs in the past decade is being concentrated and unfolded at this moment. The real watershed may have just begun.  

As financing drivers gradually give way to operational drivers, and as the capital market no longer pays infinitely for forward stories, the industry's evaluation system will also change accordingly.  

Only those companies that can first touch the profit and loss line, sell their products, and turn BD from a one-time transaction into long-term cash flow have the opportunity to cross the next cycle. After all, stories can support a valuation. But only sustained profits can sustain a truly pharmaceutical company.

Making money is the ultimate answer given by the 2026 pharmaceutical interim report. And whether it can continue to make money is the question that China's innovative drugs must answer to the market and the world in the next decade.