New Stock Outlook | Focusing on the scarce cancer fighting track, how many highlights are there in the IPO story of Yingpai Pharmaceutical?

Recently, another innovative pharmaceutical company, Nanjing Engenes Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (Engenes Pharmaceuticals), has submitted an application for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Goldman Sachs and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) are the joint sponsors. Public information shows that Engenes Pharmaceuticals was established in 2009 as a commercial-stage innovative biotechnology company dedicated to advancing precision cancer therapies globally based on the synthetic lethality mechanism, redefining the standard of cancer treatment. The company has established a comprehensive and advanced portfolio of synthetic lethality products, making it one of the only three companies in the world to have both commercial-stage PARP1/2 inhibitors and clinical-stage next-generation PARP1 selective inhibitors. On the capital front, Engenes Pharmaceuticals completed a 250 million RMB Series D++ financing round in November 2024, demonstrating market optimism for its technology roadmap and commercial prospects. With the gradual clinical acceptance of synthetic lethality therapy and the emerging global market potential, Engenes Pharmaceuticals' listing this time will not only accelerate the commercialization of its core products but also provide investors with an important opportunity to enter the innovative pharmaceutical golden track of synthetic lethality. Acceleration of commercialization of core products It is understood that "synthetic lethality" is an emerging cancer mechanism, the principle of which is that when two specific pathways in a cell simultaneously have defects, it will lead to cell death, while defects in a single pathway will not have the same consequence. In cancer treatment, by identifying synthetic lethality pairs generated by cancer-causing mutations in tumor cells and targeting their paired pathways, selective killing of tumor cells can be achieved. This mechanism not only has high theoretical targeting, allowing the killing of cancer cells while protecting normal tissues, but also shows significant potential in expanding drug target points, overcoming resistance issues, and synergistic combination therapy. From a financial perspective, despite Engenes Pharmaceuticals obtaining some revenue through external licensing and drug sales, the company recorded losses of approximately 199 million RMB, 255 million RMB, and 129 million RMB in 2023, full-year 2024, and the first half of 2025, respectively, mainly due to high research and development expenses. As of June 30, 2025, the company had only 210 million RMB in cash and cash equivalents, and its cash flow situation was becoming tense. In this context, the commercialization progress of Engenes Pharmaceuticals' core product, Cenapali, is particularly critical. This PARP1/2 inhibitor was approved in China in January 2025 for first-line maintenance treatment for ovarian cancer in the "overall population." The results of its Phase III registration clinical trial (FLAMES study) showed that Cenapali demonstrated the greatest progression-free survival benefit among all PARP inhibitors and good tolerability. To accelerate market penetration and alleviate financial pressure, Engenes Pharmaceuticals is advancing the commercialization layout of Cenapali from multiple dimensions. In the domestic market, as of June 30, 2025, Cenapali has been marketed in 27 provinces in China, entered over 200 direct-to-patient (DTP) pharmacies, and covered over 600 medical institutions. On the international front, the marketing authorization application for Cenapali was formally accepted by the European Medicines Agency in August 2025, with approval expected in the second half of 2026. In terms of health insurance payment, Cenapali was recommended for inclusion in the negotiation qualifications for new drugs in the national medical insurance drug catalog in China in September 2025 and is planned to participate in negotiations in the fourth quarter of 2025, with expected inclusion in the catalog in January 2026. In addition, as of August 20, 2025, Cenapali has been included in several regional supplemental medical insurance plans and commercial health insurance plans, including west lake HASB, Huifubao, ChongHuibao, Jiaxing Huiminbao, and Shanghaiianbao. As of now, Engenes Pharmaceuticals has signed a contract for sales services with the subsidiary of Huadong Medicine, Zhongmei Huadongyang, for the commercialization of Cenapali in China, jointly creating the largest gynecologic cancer platform in China, which will be centered around Cenapali and the introduction of Elaku (used for second-line and above ovarian cancer treatment) by Huadong Medicine. This series of systematic commercial layouts marks the official entry of Cenapali into the rapid volume stage. With its continued penetration in domestic and international markets and the gradual implementation of health insurance support, the product is expected to become a key catalyst for rapid improvement in the company's performance and achieve a breakthrough in short-term revenues. Golden sub-track challenges remain As an emerging anti-tumor mechanism, synthetic lethality has shown multiple advantages due to its unique mechanism, making it an important direction for anti-cancer drug development. The core value of this mechanism first lies in its outstanding targeting ability - by precisely identifying suitable populations with specific gene mutations using clear biomarkers, drugs can trigger a lethal effect only in tumor cells carrying specific gene mutations, thus maximizing the protection of normal cells and significantly reducing treatment-related side effects. In terms of clinical value, the synthetic lethality mechanism cleverly overcomes the bottleneck of developing "undruggable" targets. By indirectly targeting pathways complementary to tumor suppressor genes, it opens up new therapeutic avenues for cancers that lack clinical treatments (such as pancreatic cancer). Additionally, its innovative mechanism provides new treatment options for patients resistant to existing therapies, not only expanding the beneficiary population but also potentially enhancing efficacy through combined application with existing therapies. From a commercial perspective, synthetic lethality drugs have a natural advantage in covering a wide range of indications due to their mechanism not being limited to a single type of cancer. This means that once on the market, such drugs will have a broader market space. Currently, several key targets have emerged in this field, including the PARP family (such as PARP1/2, PARP1), damage response kinases (such as ATR, WEE1, PKMYT1/WEE1), and other novel synthetic lethality targets (such as POL, USP1, PRMT5, and MAT2A). Among them, PARP inhibitors are the first synthetic lethality drugs to achieve successful clinical development, with six approved globally, including AstraZeneca's Olaparib and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals' Fluoroparib. In this track, Engenes Pharmaceuticals has established a leading position. The company is not only one of the only three companies in the world simultaneously possessing commercial-stage PARP1/2 inhibitors and clinical-stage next-generation PARP1 selective inhibitors, but also has built a rich and differentiated pipeline. As of the latest disclosure date, the company's pipeline includes one commercial-stage drug, four clinical-stage drugs, and seven pre-IND stage drugs, covering multiple key synthetic lethality targets and expanding into emerging therapy areas such as ADC and protein degradation agents, making it one of the most comprehensive and advanced synthetic lethality drug combinations in China and globally. However, as the popularity of synthetic lethality targets rises, industry competition is becoming increasingly fierce. According to data from PharmCube, nearly 40 PARP inhibitors are in clinical research and development stages, with Engenes Pharmaceuticals having progressed to the listing application stage and four entering Phase III clinical trials, with over 100 pre-clinical R&D pipelines worldwide. (Chart: Global clinical pipeline of PARP inhibitors, source: PharmCube) At the same time, Frost & Sullivan data shows that the market size of synthetic lethality drugs is relatively limited - it is estimated to be $8.7 billion globally by 2029, while the market for small molecule targeted cancer drugs is expected to reach $105.8 billion during the same period. Furthermore, the commercialization pathway of this field is not without challenges. In 2022, three PARP inhibitors Lynparza, Rubraca, and Zejula had their approvals for third-line and above ovarian cancer treatments revoked by the FDA due to the potential risk of increased mortality, revealing many uncertainties in the new drug development process. Overall, Engenes Pharmaceuticals is a high-growth innovative pharmaceutical company with the clinical data of its core product Cenapali demonstrating its competitive advantage among similar drugs, and its commercialization layout is progressing rapidly, starting with volume sales domestically. As one of the few companies globally that simultaneously target both PARP1/2 and next-generation PARP1 inhibitors, Engenes Pharmaceuticals has built long-term competitive barriers and is poised to continue benefiting from the growth dividend of this track. However, while the company is capitalizing on development opportunities, it also faces significant competitive pressures. Looking ahead, investors should focus more on the commercialization progress of its core products and the value realization of its subsequent pipeline.