IPO Preview | 83% Gross Margin vs. 81% Relying on Recombinant Proteins: Deconstructing Acrobiosystems' "High Gross Margin" and "Single-Leg Jump"

Title context: IPO Preview | 83% Gross Margin vs. 81% Relying on Recombinant Proteins: Deconstructing Acrobiosystems' "High Gross Margin" and "Single-Leg Jump" Text: There is a long-circulated metaphor in the biopharmaceutical industryduring a gold rush, the ones who reliably make money are not necessarily the gold diggers, but the water sellers. And Acrobiosystems is precisely a typical "water seller" in the recombinant protein segment upstream of the innovative drug industry chain. On September 30, this "water seller" officially submitted its listing prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, embarking on a journey toward an A+H dual capital platform. This is not its first attempt. On January 26 of this year, Acrobiosystems had already submitted an application, which lapsed at the end of July due to the expiration of the application's validity period. The company was listed on the A-share ChiNext board in October 2021, and as of the close on October 15, its total market capitalization was approximately 17.7 billion yuan. Unlike many domestic biotech companies that are rooted in the local market, Acrobiosystems chose a globalization strategy from its early stages of development, with overseas customers and overseas revenue accounting for a significant proportion. It is one of the few domestic recombinant protein manufacturers that has achieved large-scale product exports. Standing at the juncture of global innovative drug iteration and supply chain restructuring, what kind of investment value does Acrobiosystems' A+H listing possess, and what unavoidable shortcomings lie beneath the surface? 83% High Gross Margin VS 81% of Revenue from Recombinant Proteins According to GMTEight, Acrobiosystems is primarily engaged in the R&D, production, and sales of recombinant proteins, antibodies, and analytical detection kits. Specifically, the company's core product is recombinant proteins, and it possesses a diversified portfolio of other biological reagents, including antibodies, analytical detection kits, functional cell lines, and cell culture media. These products cover application areas such as oncology, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, and neuroscience, spanning drug screening optimization, preclinical, clinical, CMC, and diagnostic reagent development. In addition, it supplements these with a range of technical services, such as molecular interaction analysis based on customers' specialized R&D needs, forming a comprehensive "products + services" model. Image source: Acrobiosystems prospectus) A review of the prospectus reveals that Acrobiosystems' most distinctive label is its sustained and stable ultra-high gross margin, which is also the most intuitive manifestation of the technical barriers in the upstream biological reagents sector. According to the prospectus, from 2023 to 2025, Acrobiosystems achieved operating revenue of 544 million yuan, 645 million yuan, and 838 million yuan, respectively, with year-over-year growth of 18.6% and 29.9% in the latter two years. Profit for the period was 148 million yuan, 120 million yuan (down 18.9% year-over-year), and 165 million yuan (up 37.5% year-over-year), respectively, showing relatively volatile performance compared to revenue. In the first seven months of 2026, the company achieved operating revenue of 606 million yuan, up 31.1% year-over-year, and profit for the period of 123 million yuan, up 36.7% year-over-year, further highlighting a trend of steady growth. It is worth noting that compared to its steady revenue growth, Acrobiosystems' gross margin has long been maintained at an extremely high level. From 2023 to 2025, the company's gross margins were 84.3%, 84.8%, and 83.5%, respectively, and 83.1% in the first seven months of 2026. The net margin over the same period was 20.3%, a level that places it in the top tier of the entire biological reagents sector. Along with revenue and profit growth, Acrobiosystems' operating leverage has also been continuously improving: as of the first seven months of 2026, the company's net cash flow from operating activities was 118 million yuan, cash and cash equivalents at period-end were 324 million yuan, and the debt-to-asset ratio was only 3.9%. However, beneath the impressive profitability, Acrobiosystems still faces the development risk of "walking on one leg." Breaking down the revenue structure, Acrobiosystems' revenue base is firmly tied to its recombinant protein business, while antibody products, detection kits, and related technical servicesits second growth curve businessesremain relatively small in scale and are still in the cultivation stage, unable to carry the revenue burden for now. According to the prospectus, in 2025, recombinant protein revenue accounted for approximately 81% of the company's total, antibodies and kits about 15%, and the remainder was technical services. This brings up a very real problem: performance is highly dependent on a single product category, and once downstream demand fluctuates or competition in the sector intensifies, the company's performance will be directly impacted. Even though recombinant proteins themselves have strong demand resilience, in the long run, a single-product structure is always a risk point. However, the customer and revenue structure is a major highlight for Acrobiosystems. The company's products cover a large number of leading pharmaceutical companies globally, with strong customer stickiness. Its business is globally diversified, with a relatively high proportion of overseas revenue, and the U.S. market is its most important overseas market. In 2025, revenue from mainland China accounted for 36.2% of the company's total, while revenue from the United States accounted for 40.1%. This stands in clear contrast to many upstream reagent companies that rely solely on orders from domestic pharmaceutical companies, and it is precisely this layout that supports the company's strategic choice to move toward the Hong Kong stock market and face international investors. In other words, Acrobiosystems has proven that it can sell recombinant protein products to pharmaceutical companies worldwide, but the next test is whether it can also build up its other product lines and break the "single-leg" pattern. Behind Domestic No. 1 and Global No. 3, a Gap with Overseas Giants Remains What Acrobiosystems does is recombinant proteinsclose relatives of antibodies, upstream of kits, the "flour" at the very front of the biopharmaceutical R&D chain. It does not determine whether a drug succeeds, but pharmaceutical companies cannot avoid it at every step from target validation to clinical sample preparation. This also determines the "growth ceiling" of the market Acrobiosystems operates in. According to Frost & Sullivan data, the global biological reagents market was valued at $18.2 billion in 2020 and grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7.7% to $26.4 billion in 2025, and is expected to expand to $39.5 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.9%. China's biological reagents market, meanwhile, is growing even fasternearly three times the overall market rate. China's biological reagents market was valued at $2.2 billion in 2020 and grew at a compound annual growth rate of 16.2% to $4.6 billion in 2025, and is expected to grow to $13.4 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 16.8%. Among these, biological reagents can be divided into three types: cell-based, protein-based, and nucleic acid-based. Protein-based reagents are further divided into antibodies, recombinant proteins, and others. In 2025, by revenue, the protein-based biological reagents segment accounted for 36.3% of the global biological reagents market. The global recombinant protein segment accounted for 36.0% of the global protein-based biological reagents market. In 2025, recombinant protein reagents accounted for 13.1% of the global biological reagents market, making them a major growth engine for the industry. It can be seen that the recombinant protein reagents market in which Acrobiosystems operates is situated within a triple trend of steady global growth, rapid Chinese expansion, and recombinant proteins leading the way. For the company, this is a "water seller" track with strong growth certainty. Within this, Acrobiosystems' market share as domestic No. 1 and global No. 3 undoubtedly provides a strong footnote for its position in this market competition. According to relevant statistical criteria, Acrobiosystems ranks first among domestic suppliers and third among all global manufacturers, with a global market share of 2.7%. This report card represents the first time a domestic recombinant protein manufacturer has truly stood at the doorstep of the global first tier. Specifically, the current global competitive landscape can be clearly divided into two major camps. The first tier consists of established overseas giants represented by Thermo Fisher and Bio-Techne, which have long occupied major global market share. Their advantages lie in decades of accumulated comprehensive product matrices, global warehousing and localized services, and deep brand recognition. Many overseas pharmaceutical companies have developed usage habits over many years, resulting in high customer migration costs. These are competitors Acrobiosystems must face head-on in the long term. The second tier consists of domestic peers represented by Acrobiosystems. The differentiated advantages of domestic manufacturers are very clear: faster response times, shorter communication cycles for customized projects, and significant cost-effectiveness advantages. But the shortcomings are equally prominent: overall revenue scale and the richness of complete product lines still lag considerably behind overseas giants. Acrobiosystems' differentiated approach is a dual-track strategy of domestic substitution plus proactive overseas expansion. At the same time, the company has laid out in advance an AI protein design platform and GMP-grade recombinant protein products, targeting the demand of next-generation innovative drug tracks such as CGT, positioning itself early for reagent demand in frontier tracks, attempting to seize opportunities in emerging sectors and find opportunities to overtake competitors. From the above, it can be seen that although Acrobiosystems occupies a certain market share in its track, this does not mean it can rest on its laurels, because giants will not allow their share to continue eroding, and subsequent price competition and new product races will continue to play out. Conclusion In summary, from the three dimensions of industry track, operating performance, and global market position, Acrobiosystems is clearly a highly representative overseas-expanding leader in China's upstream biological reagents sector. The company's "water seller" business model comes with inherent resilience, and it has already secured the industry position of global No. 3, proving that domestic recombinant protein products have gained recognition from global pharmaceutical companies. However, a single-product structure and continued competition from overseas giants are two difficult problems standing in the way of long-term development. This A+H Hong Kong listing is merely a milestone in the company's globalization journey, not the endpoint. In the short term, the market may speculate on the A+H and globalization story, but the long-term investment logic ultimately depends on whether the company can continuously broaden its product boundaries and grow from a single-category manufacturer focused on recombinant proteins into a comprehensive global biological reagents platform.