HK Stock Market Move | Pharmaceutical stocks continue to strengthen, with Sino Biopharmaceutical leading gains after securing a US$7 billion BD deal; outbound BD in the first three quarters nears full-year total of last year.

Pharmaceutical stocks continued to rise this morning, led by innovative drugs and CRO concepts. As of press time, SBP GROUP (01177) rose 8.64% to HK$5.595; AKESO (09926) rose 5.76% to HK$87.25; BeOne Medicines Ltd. (06160) rose 5.61% to HK$244.6; INNOVENT BIO (01801) rose 4.70% to HK$89.05; SKB BIO (06990) rose 4.66% to HK$463.0; WuXi AppTec (02359) rose 4.65% to HK$207.0. On the news front, positive developments are concentrated in the innovative drug sector. SBP GROUP announced after market close on November 4 that it had entered into a major outbound licensing deal with multinational pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim for next-generation oncology therapies, covering six preclinical innovative drug programs. The company will receive a US$358 million upfront payment, with a potential total value of up to US$7 billion, setting a record for the company's BD transaction value. Notably, according to the latest data disclosed by the National Development and Reform Commission, the total value of China's innovative drug outbound technology licensing (License-out) transactions in the first three quarters of this year reached approximately US$130 billion, already approaching the historical high of US$135.6 billion for the full year of 2025. Orient pointed out that, for the pharmaceutical sector as a whole, revenue in the first three quarters of 2026 grew 1.4% year on year, net profit attributable to parent companies grew 11.6% year on year, and non-recurring net profit attributable to parent companies grew 18.3% year on year. Compared with 2025, revenue growth picked up slightly, while net profit attributable to parent companies and non-recurring net profit attributable to parent companies both turned from decline to growth, and profit growth was significantly higher than revenue growth, further validating the industry's earnings recovery. Currently, the pharmaceutical industry shows moderate revenue growth and relatively rapid profit recovery, with non-recurring net profit attributable to parent companies growing faster than net profit attributable to parent companies, indicating continued improvement in profitability of core businesses.