Guotai Haitong: Gives LEPU BIO-B (02157) a "buy" rating, MRG003 domestic approval imminent.

Guotai Haitong issued a research report stating that it has initiated coverage on LEPU BIO-B (02157) with a "buy" rating. The forecasted revenue for the years 2025-2027 is 8.53/12.04/16.65 billion yuan, with a reference to the average PS of comparable companies in 2025 being 34.1X. Taking into consideration the company's well-established product layout and the imminent approval of company MRG003, a target price of 10.87 yuan/11.81 Hong Kong dollars with a 23X PS multiple for 2025 is given. Furthermore, with a reference to the average PB of comparable companies in 2025 being 18.7X and considering the lower net assets of these comparable companies, a target price of 9.55 yuan/10.38 Hong Kong dollars with a 25X PB multiple for 2025 is also provided. By adopting a cautious approach, the target price for the company is set at 9.55 yuan/10.38 Hong Kong dollars based on both PS and PB valuations. The report states that the company has built a pipeline of multiple oncology products covering the areas of immunotherapy, ADC targeted therapy, and oncolytic virus drugs. The company's cornerstone in immunotherapy is the anti-PD-1 antibody candidate drug. Through an advanced ADC technology development platform, the company aims to develop innovative ADCs and strategically positions itself in the oncolytic virus field, with the goal of developing more optimized and innovative drugs to better serve the unmet clinical needs of cancer patients. Additionally, the company is actively exploring combination therapy with PD-L1 and ADC drugs. The company's MRG003, used as a monotherapy for the treatment of R/MNPC, obtained priority review qualification from the CDE in September 2024 and submitted NDA review in March 2025, indicating a potential approval domestically in the near future. In terms of combination therapy, in September 2025, MRG003 combined with the PD-1 antibody Puxili monotherapy HX008 was officially listed as a breakthrough therapy by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) Drug Evaluation Center (CDE) in China, targeting patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer who had previously failed platinum-based and PD-1/L1 treatments.