HK Stock Market Move | CRO concept stocks under pressure as Pharmaron Beijing (03759) falls over 4% and Joinn Laboratories (06127) falls over 3%.

Concept stocks in the CRO sector are under pressure and trending lower. As of the time of writing, Pharmaron Beijing (03759) fell by 4.32% to HKD 21.24, Joinn Laboratories (06127) fell by 3.29% to HKD 21.16, Asymchem Laboratories (06821) fell by 2.31% to HKD 78.15, and VIVA BIOTECH (01873) fell by 1.98% to HKD 1.98. On the news front, in the early morning of December 18th Beijing time, the US 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (2026 NDAA) containing a revised version of the "Biosecurity Law" was passed by the Senate with 77 votes in favor and 20 votes against. The bill will now be sent to the White House for the President's signature. Cinda indicates that the Biosecurity Law has been a key factor in suppressing valuations in the CXO sector over the past two years. The final version of the bill, as compared to the initial draft, did not specifically name any companies and is relatively moderate overall. Considering the fact that the Federal Reserve has entered a rate-cutting cycle, global biopharmaceutical financing is expected to improve marginally. With the passage of the bill, the CXO sector may see a dual recovery in performance and valuation.