For a long time, Changchun High-tech's image in the capital market has been extremely singular, with the cash cow of growth hormone being too strong, overshadowing all other possibilities for the company.
Investors have become accustomed to watching the slightest movements in centralized procurement, and few are willing to believe it can tell a true innovative drug story. The market's expectations and anxieties about &#34;drug leaders&#34; have always been pulled back and forth in a single-dimensional narrative.
On December 15, 2025, a transaction from across the ocean broke this dullness.
Changchun High-tech's subsidiary, Jinsai Pharmaceutical, announced that it would authorize the overseas rights of its SHR antibody GenSci098 to the American company Yarrow Bioscience.
The total amount of this transaction reached $1.365 billion, including a $120 million upfront payment and recent milestones (a $70 million non-refundable, non-deductible upfront payment, and a subsequent $50 million recent development milestone payment).
In the unspoken rules of pharmaceutical BD transactions, the upfront payment is the truly valuable part. For an early asset that is just in Phase I clinical trials, securing a $70 million upfront payment and a $50 million recent milestone is enough to prove the product's worth.
Jinsai Pharmaceutical has finally stepped out of the comfort zone of growth hormone, obtaining a formal ticket to the global innovative drug club with international orders.
<h2>The Value of &#34;Drug Leaders&#34; in BD</h2>
The value of this transaction is also reflected in the buyer.
The buyer, Yarrow Bioscience, is not an unknown entity; it is a NewCo incubated by the renowned medical full lifecycle fund RTW Investments. RTW is known in the industry for its sharp vision and precise execution, having made early investments in Prometheus Biosciences, which was later acquired by Merck for over $10 billion.
They have heavily invested in acquiring the overseas rights of GenSci098, positioning it as the core asset of Yarrow, and this &#34;betting-style&#34; investment itself is the highest level of endorsement.
In RTW's valuation model, GenSci098 clearly possesses the potential to disrupt the existing treatment landscape, changing the therapeutic mechanism for thyroid eye disease.
The current market leader is Amgen's Tepezza, a drug that generates billions in annual sales and has ushered in the era of targeted therapy, yet it has significant weaknesses.
It alleviates the symptoms of exophthalmos by inhibiting the IGF-1R pathway but is ineffective against hyperthyroidism. This is not the fundamental source of the disease and is often accompanied by side effects such as hearing loss and high blood sugar, while the cumbersome intravenous infusion causes great distress to patients.
GenSci098, on the other hand, chooses a more thorough approach by directly blocking the binding of pathogenic antibodies to the TSHR receptor. Mechanistically, this product theoretically can not only treat eye diseases but also control the hyperthyroid symptoms of Graves' disease at the source.
Since TSHR is relatively limited in distribution within the human body, GenSci098 avoids the concerning ototoxic risks associated with Tepezza. Coupled with the significant convenience of subcutaneous injection, this drug shows potential to become the best-in-class in terms of efficacy, safety, and compliance
This is precisely the fundamental reason why RTW is willing to pay a high &#34;entrance fee.&#34;
<h2>Validated &#34;Third Growth Curve&#34;</h2>
For Gensai Pharmaceutical, this transaction is of great significance.
For many years, Gensai Pharmaceutical has been trying to prove to the outside world that it possesses the capability for original research and innovation, and is not just a giant in the sales of growth hormones. The company invests heavily in R&amp;D every year and has built a vast pipeline, but without the rigorous testing of international markets, these investments always carry uncertainty in the eyes of capital.
The completion of this BD transaction essentially closes the loop of the business model.
It proves that Gensai's R&amp;D platform can produce globally competitive hard-core assets, and it also demonstrates the company's ability to achieve self-sustainability through technology output.
This &#34;internal circulation plus external circulation&#34; dual-engine strategy is vividly displayed in this transaction. By licensing to Yarrow, which has local resources and capital advantages, Gensai Pharmaceutical has avoided the high clinical development risks in the complex and highly regulated European and American markets, while securing definite cash returns and future sales shares.
With the injection of $120 million, Gensai Pharmaceutical's &#34;third horse-drawn carriage&#34;—global BD business—has finally transformed from a planning diagram into a real scene. This funding will strongly support subsequent R&amp;D investments and accelerate the advancement of other potential pipelines.
The more profound impact lies in the reconstruction of the company's valuation logic. When the market realizes that Changchun High-tech is no longer just a growth hormone company suppressed by centralized procurement sentiment, but an innovative pharmaceutical company with global IP output capabilities and a complete pipeline hierarchy, the market will reposition it.
Although the road to new drug development remains fraught with uncertainty, Gensai Pharmaceutical has already proven its innovation quality to the world with a highly competitive molecule.
For Changchun High-tech, this $120 million is not just cash, but a belated confirmation of its innovative identity

000661

Changchun Pharmaceutical's subsidiary, GenSci098, received a $70 million upfront payment for an external licensing deal, as well as $50 million in recent development milestone payments, with a potential total of $1.365 billion in milestone payments and a 10% sales commission on net sales

"Northeast Medicine Mogul" Transforms into Innovative Pharmaceuticals