"In the first half of the year, the company completed the construction and transformation of its sales team. The product entered a substantial volume growth phase, achieving strong sales performance. In the second half, the company plans to add another 30 sales personnel, focusing on key core hospitals," said Dr. Chen Li, Founder and CEO of Hua Medicine, at the company's performance briefing on August 29.
The 2025 interim report disclosed by Hua Medicine on August 28 showed that the company's core product, HuaTangNing (dorzagliatin tablets), achieved sales revenue of 217 million RMB, a year-on-year increase of 112%; sales volume reached 1.764 million boxes, a year-on-year increase of 108%. Driven by sales, Hua Medicine's non-GAAP operating loss for the first half was 37 million RMB, a reduction of over 70% compared to the same period last year.
Stimulated by the performance, Hua Medicine's stock price rose by 7.52% by the close on August 29.
First Independent Sales Year Performance Demonstrates Successful "Solo Flight"
HuaTangNing is the world's first glucokinase activator (GKA). It was approved for launch in China in September 2022 for treating type 2 diabetes. Its unique mechanism involves repairing glucokinase function to restore the body's glucose homeostasis regulation, providing a new treatment option for diabetic patients.
In August 2020, Hua Medicine entered a strategic collaboration with Bayer. The latter obtained exclusive commercialization rights for HuaTangNing in China (which was still under development at the time) for a 300 million RMB upfront payment and up to 4.18 billion RMB in milestone payments. Both parties agreed to initially share net sales revenue equally and adjust the profit-sharing ratio upon reaching certain sales targets. However, in November 2024, Hua Medicine announced that it would reclaim the domestic commercialization rights for HuaTangNing effective January 1, 2025, transitioning to full independent sales. This means the first half of 2025 became Hua Medicine's "first independent sales year."
According to the data, Hua Medicine achieved both volume and value growth after going solo. The financial report shows that in the first half of this year, Hua Medicine sold approximately 1.764 million boxes of HuaTangNing with a net sales value of approximately 217 million RMB. In the same period of 2024, HuaTangNing's sales volume was approximately 846,000 boxes with a net sales value of approximately 102.7 million RMB. Based on this calculation, assuming the price per box remained unchanged, Hua Medicine achieved sales growth of 111.8%.
Furthermore, as of June 30, 2025, Hua Medicine achieved a gross profit of approximately 118 million RMB, with a gross profit margin of about 54.2%; in the same period of 2024, the gross profit was approximately 47.8 million RMB with a gross profit margin of about 46.5%, representing an increase of 7.7 percentage points in gross margin. Chen Li stated: "The significant improvement in gross margin is mainly due to the economies of scale brought by released production capacity. As production volume increases, unit production costs decrease, coupled with a reduction in the promotion expense ratio after establishing our own sales team, leading to a comprehensive improvement in profitability."
Plans to Gradually "Go Global" via Hong Kong and Macau
Regarding the company's future development, Chen Li revealed that in the domestic market, the company plans to use core hospitals as leverage to gradually penetrate into primary care markets. Data shows that as of the end of June 2025, Hua Medicine had covered over 2,000 hospitals in China, including more than 800 core hospitals. Simultaneously, Hua Medicine also plans to "go global." Specifically, Chen Li stated that Hua Medicine intends to use Hong Kong, China as a pivot to gradually expand into Southeast Asia and has already submitted a new drug registration application to the relevant authorities in Hong Kong. It also plans to use Macau, China as a pivot to gradually penetrate into Portuguese-speaking countries.
To facilitate its global expansion plans, Chen Li disclosed that Hua Medicine has completed a global patent layout in the field of steady-state glucose control. As of June 30, 2025, it had obtained over 330 patent approvals, with protection periods extending from 2025 to 2039, providing a long-term barrier for subsequent indication expansion and global commercialization.
Regarding new pipelines, Hua Medicine plans to develop a Dorzagliatin + Metformin fixed-dose combination and a second-generation GKA (for metabolic diseases), among others. Among these, the second-generation GKA has completed a Phase I single ascending dose study in the US and plans to initiate a Phase I multiple ascending dose study by the end of 2025 or early 2026.
Zhou Yu, a securities analyst at Pacific Securities Co., Ltd., believes that the commercialization transfer of HuaTangNing proceeded smoothly. After terminating the cooperation with Bayer, the company established its own commercialization team. "A self-operated and controllable sales team is expected to enhance the stability and predictability of the company's performance. The subsequent expansion of the sales team is worth watching." Meanwhile, given the substantial clinical and real-world efficacy evidence for HuaTangNing, coupled with a lack of new-mechanism oral hypoglycemic drugs in overseas markets, she is optimistic about the "global expansion" of the second-generation GKA, an upgraded version of HuaTangNing.
The reporter also noted that as of the end of June 2025, Hua Medicine's cash reserves reached 1.023 billion RMB. "2025 will be Hua Medicine's 'first year of independent commercialization.' We hope to deepen our presence in the field of diabetes while becoming a global innovator in the treatment of metabolic diseases," Chen Li stated.
