<div id="readability-page-1">When an ibuprofen dance challenge went viral on the Chinese social media platform Douyin in late 2022 during the Covid-19 pandemic, shares of the country’s leading ibuprofen maker surged more than 200 per cent in two weeks. Now profits at Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical are plunging, and it is not alone, as drug makers are hit by oversupply and weakening demand. The net profit at Shandong Xinhua, a leading manufacturer and exporter of fever and pain medicines, including ibuprofen, fell 26 per cent year on year to 256.2 million yuan (US$37 million) in the first three quarters of 2025, according to its exchange filing. The earlier spike in Shandong Xinhua’s shares came as social media influencers mimicked the poses of a red human-shaped figure on the ibuprofen packaging, cheering up social media users and offering a brief escape from pandemic anxiety in December 2022. That month, the mainland began moving away from its “zero-Covid” strategy, lifting lockdowns, ending mass testing and reopening public venues.  The trend soon inspired tens of thousands to replicate the influencers with spins, stretches and jump kicks. Shandong Xinhua’s slump extends a downturn that began in 2024, when full-year net profit fell 5.3 per cent from a year earlier. The company attributed the profit decline to price cuts on key products to defend its market share. Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical’s share price jumped from HK$5.18 on December 2, 2022 to HK$15.62 on December 16, 2022, before retreating to hover around HK$7 at the end of 2025. Similarly, Hubei Biocause Heilen Pharmaceutical, which makes medicines for fever, pain and heart disease, said it expected its 2025 net profit to fall between 57 and 56 per cent year on year to between 31 million yuan and 39 million yuan. Hubei Biocause’s share price jumped from 9.83 yuan on October 28, 2022 to 31.97 yuan on December 16, 2022, before retreating to around 12 yuan at the end of last year. Its share price fell last year due to a decline in the ibuprofen market. Prices in Asia-Pacific, particularly in China, showed “a consistent downward trend” through the first half of 2025 as oversupply deepened and customer demand remained “sluggish”, according to market intelligence provider Procurement Resource. The roots of the glut can be traced to late 2022, when the Covid-19 outbreak led to panic buying of ibuprofen, cold medicines and Covid-19 test kits on the mainland. Beijing urged drug makers to go “all out” to boost production by late December. The combined daily production capacity of ibuprofen and paracetamol had surged to 202 million tablets, more than four times the level in early December, said Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology Wang Jiangping on December 29, 2022. In 2022, Hubei Biocause’s net profit rose 15.5 per cent year on year to 119.8 million yuan, while Shandong Xinhua’s net profit jumped 30 per cent to 378.6 million yuan.</div>

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<p>Shares of Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical surged over 200% in late 2022 due to a viral ibuprofen dance challenge but have since plummeted as profits fell 26% year-on-year to 256.2 million yuan in 2025. The decline is attributed to oversupply and weakening demand, with price cuts impacting market share. Similarly, Hubei Biocause Heilen Pharmaceutical expects a 56-57% drop in net profit for 2025. The ibuprofen market in Asia-Pacific is experiencing a downward trend due to oversupply and sluggish demand, stemming from panic buying during the Covid-19 outbreak in late 2022.</p>

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After boost from viral dance challenge, Chinese medicine firm’s shares languish