Insight into Ruibo Biotech's trip to Hong Kong: The pipeline layout is balanced and rich, possessing the scarce trait of being the "Chinese version of Alnylam."

From "chronic dosing" to "one-time treatment" or "long-lasting intervention," small nucleic acid drugs are redefining the treatment paradigm. Behind this development is the direct revelation of the "blue ocean" characteristics of the small nucleic acid drug market. With the unique advantages of programmability, long duration of action, and the ability to target "undruggable" targets, small nucleic acid drugs are now considered the "third wave" after small molecules and antibody drugs. By 2024, the global small nucleic acid therapy market is valued at $5.1 billion, expected to reach $18.6 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 29.5%, and projected to be $49.4 billion by 2034, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.6%, exhibiting overall high growth characteristics. Small nucleic acid drugs have become the next high-growth frontier area, undoubtedly providing significant imaginative space for domestic innovative drug companies. According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website, on October 28, Suzhou Ribobio Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Ribobio") updated its Hong Kong stock listing prospectus, planning to list on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC and Citi as joint sponsors. Founded in 2007, Ribobio is a major player in the global small nucleic acid drug (particularly focused on siRNA therapy) research and development field. The company has already established one of the largest siRNA drug pipelines globally, with seven proprietary drug assets in clinical trials, covering seven indications including cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, and hepatic diseases, with four of them in phase 2 clinical trials. As a leading pioneer in China's small nucleic acid technology and small nucleic acid pharmaceutical industry, Ribobio's Hong Kong listing also provides investors with an excellent window to observe high-value and scarce innovative drug targetscan the company rise with the tide and become the "Chinese version of Alnylam"? With a balanced and rich pipeline, the core product "high value" is about to be released On May 31, 2024, global RNAi therapy leader Alnylam's market value officially surpassed Moderna, with Alnylam's market value being approximately $55 billion, while Moderna's market value dropped to around $53 billion. Since then, Alnylam's market value has consistently led Moderna's. It is widely believed in the industry that Alnylam's market value surpassing Moderna is a result of breakthroughs in the small nucleic acid drug field and precise pipeline strategies. Alnylam has allocated over 80% of its R&D expenses to siRNA delivery technology breakthroughs since its inception, and to date, the company has launched six drugs, with the sixth small nucleic acid drug, Qfitlia (fitusiran), gaining FDA approval for market launch on March 28, 2025. This is the first and only treatment drug that reduces anticoagulant (AT) levels. Taking this as a reference sample, Ribobio, which focuses on breakthroughs in the entire technology platform and focuses on major disease areas and cutting-edge pipeline layouts, will undoubtedly benefit from the high-growth small nucleic acid drug market development, quickly achieving the important transition from R&D to commercialization. Ribobio has one of the largest siRNA drug pipelines globally, with seven proprietary drug assets in the clinical trial stage, covering seven indications including cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, and hepatic diseases, with four of them in phase 2 clinical trials. Apart from the clinical product pipeline, the company is also advancing over 20 pre-clinical projects to the clinical development stage. Furthermore, the company's products RBD5044 and RBD7022 are two promising candidate drugs for treating hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) and hypercholesterolemia, respectively. RBD5044 is the world's second siRNA targeting APOC3 to enter clinical development. Currently, the drug is undergoing a phase 2 trial for patients with mixed lipid abnormalities in Sweden; while RBD7022 is also the world's second siRNA targeting PCSK9 to enter clinical development, using advanced RNA interference technology to precisely regulate cholesterol metabolism. In March 2025, a phase 1 trial of RBD7022 was completed in China and is currently being pushed to phase 2 clinical trials by cooperation with Qilu Pharmaceutical. In terms of overall layout characteristics, Ribobio's product pipeline layout is both rich and balanced, focusing mainly on major disease areas such as cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal diseasesa large market with a high commercial ceiling. Other product pipelines are distributed in areas such as liver diseases, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. In addition, the company has multiple pre-clinical projects in liver external tissues such as neurological diseases, tumors, and kidney diseases, providing the company with significant room for imagination in the future. With this layout in mind, Ribobio's future is undoubtedly full of imagination, much like Alnylam's, and with its core products entering the commercialization stage, the company's investment value is evident. Building integrated research, development, and sales capabilities to perfect the "innovation-profit" loop According to Ribobio's prospectus, the company's fundamentals currently align with the characteristics of a research-based biotech company, where the long-term investment in R&D is aimed at achieving a greater future, with the company's R&D efficiency and pipeline value far exceeding short-term profits. According to the prospectus, Ribobio's R&D expenses were 315 million, 280 million, and 135 million from 2023 to the first half of 2025, totaling 730 million over two and a half years. In the pharmaceutical industry, a key sign of a successful innovative drug company perfecting the "innovation-profit" loop is shifting the company's cash flow base from financing cash flow to operational net cash flow. This means that the company not only needs abundant cash flow but also needs to have products that can continuously "generate revenue," testing the company's integrated research, development, and sales capabilities. Clearly, Ribobio understands this development consensus deeply. On one hand, the company uses financing (including IPO) to support the company's development, while on the other hand, it relies on a solid and high-quality product pipeline to achieve several important collaborations globally. For instance, in June 2025, Ribobio and its subsidiary Ribocure respectively completed a new round of financing, raising over 380 million in total, to advance clinical pipelines in cardiovascular, metabolic, and other areas, as well as hepatic extracellular delivery technology research. This fund made firm the company's cash flow, making substantial progress in advancing core pipelines and maintaining research and development investment. At the same time, Ribobio's strengthened product pipeline development has significant implications for the company's future development. For example, in October 2025, the company's product RBD1016 obtained orphan drug qualification from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for treating hepatitis D virus (HDV) infectionit helps accelerate the drug's development and commercialization process in the European Union, marking an important regulatory milestone. Moreover, with its strong R&D and technical capabilities, Ribobio has reached strategic partnerships with several well-known pharmaceutical companies. Since December 2023, Ribobio has signed cooperation and licensing agreements with Qilu Pharmaceutical and Boehringer Ingelheim. In January 2025, Ribobio's collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim achieved its first preclinical milestone, receiving a milestone payment. This partnership is also a strong endorsement of the company's platform and pipeline, greatly enhancing the company's reputation and valuation in the capital markets. With the achievement of initial payments and milestone payments from the Boehringer Ingelheim deal, Ribobio's revenue growth has been significant, and losses have been significantly narrowed. From 2023 to the first half of 2025, the company's operating income was 440,000, 143 million, and 103 million, while losses over the same period were 437 million, 282 million, and 98 million. Besides being increasingly recognized for its product capabilities, Ribobio's deep "moat" built through the entire technology platform is also a significant development highlight for the company. Ribobio has established its proprietary research technology platform covering all critical aspects of small nucleic acid drug developmentfrom drug delivery, chemical modification, multi-target drug design to model-guided drug development and productionproviding full life-cycle support from early research to commercialization. This means the company has built a sustainable "innovation engine" that can continuously develop new candidate drugs, giving it long-term viability. Overall, it can be seen that Ribobio's commercialization path is flexible and clear. The company's high-potential product pipeline and strong R&D capabilities have provided the most compelling evidence of its commercial value. At the same time, in the Hong Kong and A-share markets, pure targets like Ribobio, which focus on small nucleic acid drugs and have a full technology platform, are very rare. If the company can successfully advance its core products through clinical trials and commercialization, its long-term growth potential is enormous.