Three-Year R&D Spend Drains RMB 2.4 Billion, Urgent Cash Needs Drive Maiwei Biotech Back to Hong Kong Amid Compliance Scrutiny

In August, the China Securities Regulatory Commission imposed a warning and a RMB 600,000 fine on Maiwei Biotech’s chairman, Liu Datao, finding that he had profited RMB 1.35 million through short-swing trades executed via third-party accounts during the company’s initial listing period.

Despite this regulatory setback, Maiwei Biotech’s shares jumped nearly 40 percent around its mid-year financial report, a surge analysts link to the company’s renewed effort to list in Hong Kong. On August 29, the firm filed a fresh application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, underscoring its determination to secure a dual listing and its confidence in the underlying pipeline.

Founded in 2017, Maiwei Biotech develops innovative therapies and biosimilars for oncology and immunological diseases. Its 2022 STAR Market IPO raised RMB 2.98 billion, but from 2022 through 2024 the company recorded cumulative losses exceeding RMB 3 billion, consumed all IPO proceeds, and nearly doubled its debt burden. Mounting research and development expenditures and slower-than-expected commercialization have left its RMB 1.3 billion cash balance under pressure and made a Hong Kong fundraising round increasingly urgent.

Maiwei Biotech pursued an acquisitive growth strategy, absorbing more than ten businesses—including Taikang Biotech, Puming Biotech, Noaixin, and Desterli—to build a vertically integrated platform spanning antibody R&D, cell-culture media, reagents, and clinical research services. By mid-2025, its fixed assets totaled approximately RMB 1.6 billion. Yet in the first half of 2025, only Taikang Biotech generated a profit (RMB 63 million), while all other subsidiaries operated at a loss.

As of March 31, guarantees extended by the company and its subsidiaries reached RMB 4.775 billion—304.33 percent of its net assets—exposing it to substantial contingent liabilities. Even after eight years in business, Maiwei Biotech has never posted a profitable period. In H1 2025, it reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of RMB 551 million, while drug sales rose 53.5 percent year-on-year to RMB 101 million, insufficient to offset soaring R&D and financing costs.

Over the past three years, R&D expenses approached RMB 2.4 billion, with H1 2025 spending hitting RMB 392 million, up 21.7 percent year-on-year. Finance costs climbed 194.1 percent over the same period. Total liabilities rose from RMB 1.296 billion at year-end 2023 to RMB 2.219 billion at the close of 2024, and further to RMB 2.28 billion by mid-2025. Notably, short-term debt now comprises more than half of total borrowings, with RMB 1.151 billion maturing within twelve months—a structure that compels ongoing debt refinancing.

The debt-to-asset ratio escalated from 63.6 percent at the end of 2024 to 77.5 percent by mid-2025. Although cash and equivalents stood at RMB 1.39 billion, rising interest obligations and sustained R&D outlays stretch liquidity, with current funds estimated to cover only 12 to 15 months of operations.

In H1 2025, Maiwei Biotech secured RMB 200 million from minority investors and raised RMB 867 million via bank loans plus RMB 100 million from other financial institutions, while repaying RMB 792 million—effectively rolling over its debt. Interest expenses surged from RMB 13.34 million in 2023 to RMB 57.78 million in 2024 and RMB 39.31 million in the first half of 2025. This high-leverage, high-cost financing model has entrenched the company’s reliance on capital markets.

Three years after its STAR Market debut, Maiwei Biotech’s return to Hong Kong reflects a transition from capital-market darling to a firm grappling with acute funding needs. Management continues to highlight its strategic focus on oncology and immunology pipelines, but the imperative of securing new capital suggests survival, rather than growth, is the primary driver of its Hong Kong IPO.

Corporate governance concerns have compounded investor unease. In May 2025, the company disclosed that Liu Datao was under investigation for short-swing trading. By August, the probe concluded with a warning and fine. Between January and July 2022, Liu executed purchases and sales of 976,600 and 634,300 shares respectively through third-party accounts, with transaction volume exceeding RMB 30 million. Though his RMB 1.35 million profit pales alongside the RMB 40 million-plus he earned over 2023–2024 in salary, the episode underlined governance vulnerabilities.

While Liu holds a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University and previously worked at RAAS Pharmaceutical and Shanghai Pharma, ultimate control resides with founders Tang Chunshan and Chen Shanna. Through Langrun Investment, Langrun Consulting, and GP interests in Zhongjun Jianlong and Zhenzhu Investment, the couple commands over 40 percent of voting rights. Liu’s combined direct and indirect shareholding totals under 5.7 percent, positioning him as a professional manager rather than a controlling shareholder—a common structure in startups but one that can complicate governance in a public company under international scrutiny.

Leadership turnover has added further uncertainty. Since 2024, key figures including Deputy General Manager and lead scientist Zhang Jinchao, as well as non-independent directors Xie Ning and Guo Yongqi, have resigned. The company has reassigned core technical roles to R&D President Wu Hai, formerly of Amgen and Junshi Biosciences, and research lead Gui Xun.

Licensing income, which accounted for 67 percent of revenues in 2023 (over RMB 800 million), has nearly disappeared, as 2024 drug sales rose to RMB 1.4 billion (72.4 percent of total revenues) and H1 2025 licensing fees were almost nil. Prior deals—such as the Greater China license for 8MW0511 with Qilu Pharma (RMB 380 million upfront, up to RMB 500 million in milestones) and the global collaboration (ex-Greater China) with Calico on IL-11 monoclonal antibody 9MW3811 (USD 25 million upfront, up to USD 571 million in milestones)—demonstrate strategic intent but offer limited near-term financial relief.

Current operating cash flows depend on three biosimilar products. Junmaikang, an adalimumab biosimilar for autoimmune diseases, generated RMB 5.62 million in 2024 sales against RMB 5.27 million in costs, yielding a 6.25 percent margin. Denosumab biosimilars Mailishu (osteoporosis) and Maiweijian (giant cell tumor of bone) contributed RMB 99.54 million in H1 2025, accounting for nearly all revenue growth.

These results fall well short of the RMB 1.1–1.7 billion sales forecast for 2025 contained in Maiwei Biotech’s 2021 prospectus, with actual H1 performance equating to roughly 30 percent of the low-end projection.

The company’s pipeline comprises 16 core candidates across oncology, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases, with significant investment in antibody–drug conjugates. Its Nectin-4 ADC 9MW2821 is in Phase II/III trials for urothelial carcinoma, cervical cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer. Interim U.S. data highlight potential and foreshadow future licensing ambitions.

Maiwei Biotech projects cumulative sales of RMB 5.5–7.5 billion for 9MW2821 between 2028 and 2031—a modest outlook compared to blockbusters exceeding USD 1 billion annually and ambitious given development timelines and competition from Roche and Takeda.

A landmark licensing deal with a multinational partner could dramatically alter the company’s trajectory, providing upfront capital and shifting downstream development and commercialization risks. Absent such an agreement, Maiwei Biotech’s ability to secure new financing, accelerate product sales, or negotiate a significant licensing transaction will determine whether it can surmount its pressing liquidity constraints and validate its extensive R&D investments.