Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Santen Pharmaceutical shares fell 3.6% from the previous day to 1,880 yen, after the company reported first-quarter net profit for the fiscal year ending March 2027 rose 22.4% year on year to 7.1 billion yen. Revenue was almost flat at 69 billion yen, while operating profit rose 7.2% to 8.1 billion yen. By region, Japan fell sharply by 19.3% to 29.6 billion yen, while China rose 19.5% to 7.5 billion yen, Asia excluding China rose 39.4% to 9.5 billion yen, and EMEA rose 17.7% to 21.9 billion yen. Full-year guidance is for revenue of 311 billion yen, operating profit of 49.5 billion yen, and net profit of 40 billion yen, with first-quarter progress on revenue at only about 22%.

Rongchang Biotech's self-developed ophthalmic drug, RC28-E, an intravitreal injection, has hit a roadblock in its marketing application. On July 28, information on drug notification letters published by the National Medical Products Administration showed that RC28-E submitted by Rongchang Biotech received a notification letter, which usually means the registration application was not approved or was voluntarily withdrawn. RC28-E is a VEGF/FGF dual-target fusion protein drug for ocular neovascular diseases. Its marketing application for the treatment of diabetic macular edema was accepted last September, based on a Phase III clinical study. In addition, a domestic marketing application for the indication of wet age-related macular degeneration is expected to be submitted in mid-2026, and Rongchang Biotech had already licensed the exclusive rights for RC28-E in Greater China and Asia to a subsidiary of Santen Pharmaceutical last August.