Hong Kong Stock Market Concept Tracking | Experimental monkey's value soars to 200,000! Many companies reflect the supply cannot meet the demand, CRO industry orders are fully recovered (including concept stocks)

Recently, with the active development of new drugs, the resources of experimental monkeys have once again become scarce, and their value has soared to 200,000 yuan per monkey at one point. Data shows that the overall demand for experimental monkeys in the market in 2026 may exceed 60,000, significantly higher than the current output of experimental monkeys. From the perspective of supply and demand gap, the annual supply gap of domestic experimental monkeys is estimated to be about 10,000. According to calculations by multiple securities firms, the annual supply and demand gap for experimental monkeys in China will increase to 15,000 to 20,000 from 2026 to 2028. Industry insiders say that the overall selling price of experimental monkeys on the current market is in an upward trend, with the price of 3-5 year old rhesus macaques generally ranging from over 150,000 to around 200,000 yuan per monkey, while the price of cynomolgus macaques is around 120,000 yuan per monkey. A research and development manager of a biopharmaceutical company stated, "Now it's not just that monkeys are very expensive, but more importantly, they are in short supply." Analysts believe that this round of price increase for experimental monkeys is not simply a cyclical swing, but the result of the combination of an "old account" on the supply side and a "new fire" on the demand side. From the supply side, it takes 6-7 years for a rhesus macaque to be weaned and enter the laboratory, with female monkeys reaching sexual maturity at 4 years old, giving birth once a year with generally only one offspring, leading to very poor reproductive capacity. Especially during the high-price period in the previous years, many monkey farms sold a large number of suitable breeding monkeys as commodity monkeys for cash flow, resulting in a high proportion of older female monkeys in the industry and a sharp decline in reproduction rates. From the demand side, according to the annual report on the progress of new drug registration clinical trials in China in 2025 recently released by the National Medical Products Administration, in 2025, the total number of clinical trials exceeded 5,000 for the first time, reaching a historic high. The development of complex molecular entities such as multi-antibodies, ADCs, peptides, small nucleic acids, and CGTs continues to accelerate. In particular, the frontier track of small nucleic acids is in the early stage of concentrated outbreak of IND applications. The industry's research and development focus is gradually shifting from traditional small molecule drugs to large molecules, complex innovative molecules, and these new drugs depend more on non-human primate animal models for preclinical evaluation, further enhancing the rigid demand for experimental monkeys. A responsible person from a listed pharmaceutical company stated that the rise in the price of monkeys also means differentiation for CROs: companies with their own monkey farms or stable sources of monkeys gain scheduling ability and bargaining power; while companies relying on external procurement face cost and profit pressures. With monkeys, they sell scarce production capacity; without monkeys, they bear uncontrollable costs. Joinn Laboratories is the earliest and largest CRO in China with the layout of experimental monkeys, and through large-scale mergers and acquisitions plus continuous development of its own monkey farm, it currently has over 50,000 cynomolgus monkeys, with 90% being self-bred. The company is expected to achieve a net profit attributable to the parent of approximately 600 million to 900 million yuan in the first half of 2026, an increase of about 884.9% to 1377.4% year-on-year, with a net profit attributable to the parent company of 561 million to 842 million yuan, an increase of about 2334.2% to 3551.3% year-on-year. Joinn Laboratories stated that the growth of this period's performance is mainly derived from the rise in the market price of biological assets and the appreciation of biological assets from natural growth, both of which jointly contribute to the positive change in the fair value of biological assets, significantly increasing the company's performance. Currently, the entire CRO industry is in a period of comprehensive recovery of orders. Many leading CRO companies, such as WuXi AppTec, Pharmaron Beijing, Shanghai InnoStar Bio-tech, and Joinn Laboratories, saw a significant increase in new contract orders in the first quarter of 2026. WuXi AppTec's in-hand order growth in the first quarter was 23.6%, while Pharmaron Beijing's new contract orders grew by over 30%. Joinn Laboratories has seen a quarter-on-quarter growth rate of +24%, +118%, and +112% since the third quarter of 2025. Huafu Securities stated that with the rapid recovery of financing amounts and project numbers, the growth rate of new contracts for preclinical CROs in 2025 has greatly increased to about 40%. As the low-priced orders from the previous period are gradually digested, the strong growth in new contract orders will clear income and profit double turning points for the sector in 2026. Zhou Sicong, a fund manager at Ping An Fund, said that overseas pharmaceutical giants are facing pressure from a large number of core drug patents expiring, while domestic pharmaceutical companies have both research and development efficiency and cost advantages in the areas of ADCs, small molecule targeted drugs, and self-immune antibodies. The continuous expansion of supply and demand gaps at home and abroad is expected to bring a stage of dual improvement in performance and valuation to the innovative drug sector in 2026. Related stock ideas: Joinn Laboratories (06127): The company accurately positions itself in the high-growth track of pharmaceutical research and development, with its leading technological advantages consistently highlighted. The company completed its technical layout in advance in frontier areas such as ADCs, antibodies, and small nucleic acids. Joinn Laboratories disclosed in its first-quarter report that the company's new contract orders in the first quarter were approximately 910 million yuan, an increase of 111.6% year-on-year. By the end of the first quarter, the company's in-hand orders were approximately 3.1 billion yuan, an increase of 40.9% year-on-year. WUXI BIO (02269): In 2025, WUXI BIO achieved revenue of 21.79 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%. It reached a record high with 209 new projects signed, with about half coming from the United States and about two-thirds from dual antibodies and XDC projects; it had 945 projects on hand, including 74 phase three clinical trials and 25 commercial production projects, laying a solid foundation for continued growth in future commercial production income. WUXI BIO recently announced that it repurchased 2.7165 million shares on July 7 at a price of 36.560 to 36.880 Hong Kong dollars per share, with a repurchase amount of 99.8233 million Hong Kong dollars. WuXi AppTec (02359): In the first quarter of 2026, WuXi AppTec achieved operating income of 12.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.8%; continuous operating business income increased by 39.4% year-on-year; adjusted non-IFRS net profit attributable to the parent reached 460 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 71.7%. By the end of the first quarter, the company's in-hand orders for continuous operating business reached 59.77 billion yuan, an increase of 23.6% year-on-year, and adjusted operating cash flow increased by 21.7% year-on-year. WuXi AppTec previously forecasted that total revenue for 2026 will reach 51.3 billion to 53 billion yuan; continuous operating business income will increase by 18% to 22% year-on-year. Pharmaron Beijing (03759): The company expects to achieve operating income of 7.47 billion to 7.66 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, an increase of 16%-19% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company is expected to be 729 million to 772 million yuan, an increase of 4%-10% year-on-year. The change in performance is mainly due to the company's deepening globalization layout, with new contract orders growing by over 30%, including a more than 50% year-on-year growth in new contract orders for small molecule CDMO services.