He Yuan Bio's first year as a listed company: cutting-edge technology supports a market value of over 20 billion yuan, but the difficulty in hiding losses remains

This newspaper (chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Zhao Wenjuan and Na Beijing report

A highly anticipated “black technology” product, a revenue nearly doubling, and a stock price rally of over 350%—if you only look at the surface, HeYuan Biotech seems to have delivered a good report card for 2025. But when the noise subsides, this biotech company, once crowned with the “rice-based blood production” halo, must face a more realistic question: ongoing losses, single product line, limited market space, patent litigation pending, and other operational challenges.

(Screenshot from the 2025 performance brief)

Unbroken Losses

From key financial data, HeYuan Biotech’s revenue growth in 2025 is indeed attractive. The performance brief shows that during the reporting period, the company achieved a total operating income of 47.86 million yuan, an increase of 89.80% year-over-year, nearly doubling—this is the first positive growth data since the company went public. The company attributes this growth mainly to the commercialization breakthrough of its core product—the world’s first water rice-derived recombinant human albumin injection, OfoMin® (HY1001)—which was approved for market launch in July 2025. It quickly opened up the market and achieved sales breakthroughs, becoming the sole driver of revenue growth. As clinical promotion at the terminal gradually advances and product recognition slowly increases, this supported the year’s revenue increase.

However, high revenue growth has not translated into profit; instead, the company’s losses have deepened, which is the most critical hidden risk in this report. Data shows that in 2025, HeYuan Biotech’s net loss attributable to parent was 158 million yuan, and net loss after non-recurring items was 176 million yuan—both negative and larger than the previous year. Looking at a longer period, the company has been in a continuous loss trap: from 2022 to 2024, net losses attributable to parent were 144 million yuan, 187 million yuan, and 151 million yuan respectively, with cumulative non-recurring net losses exceeding 480 million yuan. Even with the successful listing and sales of core products, the company has not escaped the “burning money” model, and in its first year of listing, it still failed to reach an inflection point of profitability.

Regarding the reasons for ongoing losses, the company states that its annual production capacity of 10 tons of recombinant human albumin bulk and formulations on a cGMP intelligent production line is still in the ramp-up stage, and the scale effect has yet to be realized. On the other hand, as an innovative drug company, it maintains high R&D investment for core technology optimization, new indications clinical research, and subsequent product pipeline layout. The large R&D expenses combined with capacity construction costs ultimately keep the company in a state of loss.

Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, told Huaxia Times, “HeYuan Biotech is currently facing the typical challenge of innovative drug companies from 0 to 1—the product is single but expandable, revenue grows but profits lag. In the medium to long term, its plant-derived recombinant albumin’s technological barriers and cost advantages (no dependence on plasma, large-scale cultivation) still hold strategic value, but in the short term, close attention should be paid to the progress of indication expansion and capacity ramp-up efficiency.”

Meanwhile, the only approved product, OfoMin® (HY1001), is currently only approved for a specific indication—hypoalbuminemia (≤30g/L) in liver cirrhosis. Data shows that the patient population for this indication is expected to decrease from 567,000 in 2022 to 455,000 in 2030, indicating a shrinking market space. In contrast, major players in the traditional plasma-derived albumin field nearly cover all core application scenarios—from shock and burns to surgery. If OfoMin® cannot be quickly expanded to more indications or develop new growth points in the short term, the current growth curve may soon hit a ceiling.

Gao Chengyuan, director of the Influence Research Institute, told this reporter, “The current market ceiling for OfoMin® is quite clear, but this is only a temporary phenomenon. The real risk lies in the time window—if indication expansion is slower than expected and competitors like Tonghua Anruite accelerate their layout, the ceiling will be substantially lowered. The current valuation already reflects the fragility of a single product, so investors should pay attention to the 2026 medical insurance negotiations and overseas clinical progress, which are key variables to breaking the ceiling.”

It is worth noting that in 2025, the company’s asset scale saw a surge. By the end of the reporting period, total assets reached 3.702 billion yuan, a sharp increase of 248.65% from the beginning of the year. Equity attributable to shareholders soared by 381.75% to 2.897 billion yuan, seemingly indicating a significant improvement in financial health, but in reality, this was not from operational accumulation, rather from the influx of funds from the IPO. Meanwhile, the company’s share capital increased from 268 million yuan to 358 million yuan, a 33.37% rise, and net asset per share jumped from 2.24 yuan to 8.10 yuan, an increase of over 260%. Essentially, this is an external “blood transfusion” from the capital market, not an internal “blood-making” from business operations. The financing dividend will eventually be exhausted; if the company cannot achieve independent profitability in the short term, future funding pressures and operational risks will become more prominent.

Double Risks Looming

Beyond operational challenges, HeYuan Biotech also faces significant compliance and legal risks.

The most urgent is the risk related to agricultural GMO compliance, as the core of its “rice-based blood production” technology depends on genetically modified rice cultivation. There have been reports that, as of November 2025, the company has not obtained the biosafety certificate for agricultural GMOs. More critically, the current GMO rice planting area exceeds 9,000 acres, far beyond the approved 5,180 acres of experimental planting, constituting illegal over-planting. If the company cannot obtain the relevant safety certificates in time, its core raw material production could be interrupted, directly affecting the production and sales of its core products.

If compliance issues are the “Damocles sword” hanging over the company, then international patent litigation is a prolonged drain. Over the past five years, HeYuan Biotech has been embroiled in patent disputes with US-based Ventria. Public notices show that Ventria accused HeYuan of infringing on its core patents for recombinant human serum albumin derived from rice. The company’s actual controller previously worked at Ventria, intensifying market doubts about patent infringement. In March 2024, HeYuan filed a countersuit, claiming Ventria’s products infringe its US patents and seeking damages. In August 2025, Ventria withdrew its infringement claims against HeYuan, but the counterclaim filed by HeYuan is still under trial, with a highly uncertain final outcome. A loss could mean hefty compensation and serious doubts about the independence of its core technology, damaging its brand and operations.

The costs of litigation are not only uncertain—they have already left tangible marks on finances. The company disclosed that expenses related to the Ventria lawsuit were recorded under management fees for professional services. From 2022 to the first half of 2025, this account has spent over 60 million yuan. For an innovative biotech still climbing out of losses, this ongoing expenditure of “battle funds” further strains its already tight cost structure.

The Huaxia Times reporter attempted to contact HeYuan Biotech for comments but received no reply as of press time.

The secondary market also reflects investor sentiment. On October 28, 2025, HeYuan Biotech debuted on the STAR Market with the “black technology” halo. On the first day, the stock opened at 88 yuan and closed up 213.49%, with a market value surpassing 30 billion yuan. In early November, the stock price reached a high of 132.02 yuan, a rise of over 354% from the issue price—an exuberant celebration of technological imagination.

However, as market enthusiasm waned and performance pressures emerged, the stock began to decline. As of the close on March 13, HeYuan Biotech was trading at 70.7 yuan per share, nearly halving from its peak, with market value falling back to 25.3 billion yuan.

For HeYuan Biotech, after the hype, the key challenge will be to support its billion-yuan market value with real performance and solid R&D progress over the long term.