Dizal (Jiangsu) Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. A

AstraZeneca is paying $600 million upfront to secure global rights to Zegfrovy from Dizal Pharmaceutical, with up to $900 million in additional milestone payments bringing the deal's potential value to $1.5 billion. Zegfrovy, also known as sunvozertinib, is an oral treatment approved in the United States and China for certain adults with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. In the Phase III WU-KONG28 trial, Zegfrovy produced median progression-free survival of 10.3 months compared with 7.5 months for chemotherapy. Dizal reported approximately $85 million or 576 million yuan in Zegfrovy revenue during 2025, an increase of roughly 85% from the previous year. AstraZeneca will take responsibility for the treatment's global development and commercialisation, and the deal supports its goal of reaching $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030.

Dizal Pharmaceutical released its 2026 interim report. First-half operating revenue reached 523 million yuan, up 47.24% year on year, while net profit attributable to the parent company was negative 210 million yuan, narrowing the loss by 167 million yuan compared with the same period last year. Both core products, Sunvozertinib and Golidocitinib, have been included in the national medical insurance drug list, driving all revenue from the domestic market. Gross margin reached 96.00%, and net margin improved to negative 40.77% from negative 106.29% a year earlier. Selling expenses fell 10.16% year on year to 241 million yuan. Research and development investment was 402 million yuan, down 1.53% year on year, and R&D expenses as a share of revenue dropped to 76.92% from 115.00%. In July 2026, the company signed a license agreement with AstraZeneca, granting exclusive global development and commercialization rights for Sunvozertinib. It expects to receive an upfront payment of 600 million US dollars, up to 400 million US dollars in clinical development milestone payments, up to 500 million US dollars in sales milestone payments, and royalties. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

AstraZeneca reported total revenue of $30.7 billion for the first half of 2026, a 6% increase at constant exchange rates, and reaffirmed its ambition to reach $80 billion in total revenue by 2030. Core earnings per share rose 11% to $5.21, while the interim dividend was raised by 3 cents to $1.06 per share. The company highlighted double-digit growth in Oncology and Rare Disease, which offset headwinds from Farxiga's US loss of exclusivity and China volume-based procurement. CEO Pascal Soriot acknowledged the disappointment of the CARDIO-TTRansform trial outcome but pointed to six positive Phase III readouts and eight first approvals in major markets, including the US approval of first-in-class hypertension medicine Baxfendy. AstraZeneca also announced two licensing deals: an exclusive agreement with Dizal Pharmaceutical for lung cancer drug Zegfrovy, involving an upfront payment of $600 million and up to $900 million in milestones, and a deal with Sino Biopharmaceutical's CTTQ for respiratory asset TQC3721, with a $200 million upfront and up to $1.9 billion in milestones.

AstraZeneca has entered into an exclusive license agreement with China-based Dizal Pharmaceutical to acquire worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the lung cancer drug Zegfrovy. The deal includes an upfront payment of $600 million and up to $900 million in additional milestone payments, plus tiered royalties on global net sales. Zegfrovy is the only oral targeted therapy approved in the United States and China for EGFR exon 20 insertion non-small cell lung cancer after prior systemic therapy. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026 and will not impact AstraZeneca's 2026 financial guidance. Dizal recently reported positive phase III data for Zegfrovy in the first-line setting and has submitted supplemental applications to the FDA and China's CDE, both of which granted Breakthrough Therapy designation.

The pharmaceutical sector surged across the board, with the STAR Market Healthcare ETF Huaxia rising 5.61% to a latest price of 1.11 yuan. As of 11:23 on July 15, 2026, the SSE STAR Market Biomedical Index rallied 5.60%, with constituents Borui Pharma and Dizal Pharmaceutical both up 20.01%, and Hotgen Biotech up 12.64%. The healthcare industry has recently seen multiple policy catalysts, including the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Health proposing decisive progress in building a Healthy China by 2030, the National Health Commission and other ministries issuing new rules on centralized procurement of medical equipment, and the official implementation of the 2026 National Essential Medicines List. Guosheng Securities noted that in the first half of 2026, the total value of overseas licensing deals for domestic innovative drugs reached 99.7 billion US dollars, with Chinese projects accounting for eight of the world's top ten licensing deals. The STAR Market Healthcare ETF Huaxia closely tracks the SSE STAR Market Biomedical Index, which selects 50 larger market-cap listed securities in the biomedical sector on the STAR Market as constituents, with the top ten holdings accounting for 51.84% of the total weight.

The semiconductor sector tumbled, with Demingli, a storage leader valued at over 100 billion yuan, hitting limit down. Demingli issued a forecast projecting net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company at 5.7 billion to 6.5 billion yuan for the first half of 2026, while its first-quarter net profit was 3.346 billion yuan. Based on this, second-quarter net profit is estimated to have fallen 5.74% quarter-on-quarter to 2.965 billion yuan. Shares of Muxi, Huatian Technology, and Youyan Silicon fell more than 9%. Innovative drug stocks remained active, with Harbin Pharmaceutical hitting its fourth consecutive daily limit up and Dizal Pharmaceutical surging by the 20% daily limit. Data from the National Medical Products Administration showed that the total value of out-licensing deals for innovative drugs in the first half of the year reached approximately 110 billion US dollars, already accounting for 80% of the full-year total for 2025.

The Penghua STAR-50 Pharmaceutical ETF, ticker 588250, rose 5.80% to 1.13 yuan. On the news front, 601 drugs have passed the formal review for the 2026 medical insurance catalogue adjustment. Meanwhile, the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Health sets targets including raising average life expectancy to 80 years by 2030. Dizal Pharmaceutical and AstraZeneca have reached a major agreement, granting AstraZeneca exclusive global rights to sunvozertinib. As of 10:40 a.m. on July 15, 2026, the Shanghai STAR Board Biomedical Index surged 5.51%, with constituents BrightGene and Dizal Pharmaceutical both up 20.01%, and Hotgen Biotech up 10.84%. China Post Securities believes that the 986 allocation principle is expected to drive rapid volume growth for drugs included in the catalogue, and innovative drug companies, as their products enter the essential treatment list, may open up vast long-term opportunities for standardized treatment. The Penghua STAR-50 Pharmaceutical ETF closely tracks the Shanghai STAR Board Biomedical Index, which selects 50 larger market-cap securities from the STAR Board's biomedical and related sectors as constituents. As of June 30, 2026, the top ten holdings accounted for 51.84% of the total.

On the morning of July 15, the three major A-share indexes gave up early gains. By the midday break, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.08%, the Shenzhen Component Index down 0.38%, the ChiNext Index down 0.36%, and the STAR Composite Index down 2.72%. The pharmaceutical sector saw a broad rally, with GemPharmatech, ChemPartner, BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology, and Dizal Pharmaceutical all surging by the 20% daily limit. Over ten other stocks, including Joinn Laboratories, Haisco Pharmaceutical, and Baihua Pharmaceutical, also hit their daily limit. Harbin Pharmaceutical Group locked in its fourth consecutive daily limit. Baijiu stocks were all in positive territory, with Golden Seed Winery hitting the daily limit. Kweichow Moutai rose over 2%, Wuliangye Yibin over 3%, Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory over 6%, and Luzhou Laojiao nearly 6%. The semiconductor sector fell sharply, with Demingli hitting the daily limit down. Precious metals and communication equipment sectors were among the biggest decliners. In news, the National Healthcare Security Administration released the list of drugs that passed the formal review for the 2026 drug catalog adjustment. Meanwhile, the internationalization of Chinese innovative drugs is accelerating. Three outbound licensing deals by Dizal Pharmaceutical, Hansoh Pharmaceutical, and Innovent Biologics each reached several billion US dollars in total value. In the first half of 2026, the total value of Chinese pharmaceutical outbound deals reached 99.7 billion US dollars, already exceeding the full-year figure for 2024.

Biwin Storage expects net profit attributable to owners of the parent for the first half of 2026 to be between 7 billion and 7.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3,200% to 3,422%, mainly driven by the explosion in AI computing power and the storage industry entering a high-growth cycle. Tinavi is planning to acquire a controlling stake in Shanghai Minimally Invasive Orthopedics Medical Technology by issuing shares, and also intends to raise matching funds; trading in the company's shares will be suspended from July 16. Shijia Photonics plans to raise no more than 2.8 billion yuan through a private placement for projects including high-speed AWG chip and optical interconnect component production capacity expansion, while Canqin Technology plans to raise no more than 851 million yuan for projects such as advanced ceramic packaging. Jiayuan Technology expects first-half net profit to grow 879% to 961% year-on-year, with copper foil market demand driving significant increases in production and sales. Dizal Pharmaceutical has signed a license agreement with AstraZeneca, under which it will receive an upfront payment of 600 million US dollars and up to 900 million US dollars in milestone payments, but the effectiveness of the agreement is subject to uncertainties. Chaozhuo Aviation's controlling shareholder and actual controller are planning a change of control, and trading in the stock will be suspended from July 16. Anlu Technology expects first-half operating revenue to increase by 83.57% to 101.48% year-on-year, and Jiulian Technology expects to turn from a loss to a profit in the first half. In addition, Alibaba's Qwen and Baidu AI will provide support for Apple Intelligence, and Tencent Cloud announced that starting August 1, 2026, it will charge for excess storage usage on cloud database MySQL local disk instances.

The STAR Market Healthcare ETF ChinaAMC, ticker 588130, rose 3.04%, with its latest scale reaching 274 million yuan, a new high in nearly one year. The ETF has seen net inflows for 13 consecutive days, attracting a total of 165 million yuan, with an average daily net inflow of 12.701 million yuan. The SSE STAR Market Biomedical Index surged 2.55%, with constituent stocks BrightGene and Dizal Pharmaceutical both up 20.01%. Orient Securities noted that the innovative drug industry has gained global competitiveness, and the new edition of the National Essential Medicines List includes innovative drugs for the first time, making the industry's development prospects worth looking forward to.

On July 15, Harbin Pharmaceutical hit its fourth consecutive daily limit-up, with the innovative drug theme remaining active. Harbin Pharmaceutical opened sharply higher, Dizal Pharmaceutical hit its second consecutive 20 percent daily limit-up, and several stocks including BrightGene Bio-Medical Technology, GemPharmatech, and ChemPartner surged by the daily limit. In terms of news, Harbin Pharmaceutical disclosed that 118 of its product specifications have been included in the National Essential Medicines List 2026 Edition, with six new varieties added. Dizal Pharmaceutical signed a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca, granting it exclusive global rights to sunvozertinib, and will receive an upfront payment of 600 million US dollars and up to 900 million US dollars in milestone payments. In addition, in the first half of this year, China's innovative drug out-licensing deals totaled 81, with a total transaction value of approximately 110 billion US dollars, reaching a record high.

Dizal Pharma has signed a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca, granting it exclusive global development and commercialization rights for Sunvozertinib. The company will receive a one-time, non-refundable upfront payment of $600 million. The deal also includes up to $400 million in clinical development milestone payments, up to $500 million in sales milestone payments, and tiered royalties ranging from high single-digit to low double-digit percentages on global net sales. Sunvozertinib is a highly selective inhibitor targeting EGFR mutations and has been approved in China and the United States for certain non-small cell lung cancer patients. This transaction constitutes a related-party transaction and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to closing conditions and antitrust approval. Dizal Pharma has hit the '20cm' daily limit up for two consecutive trading days. In the first quarter of 2026, revenue reached 253 million yuan, up 58.18% year-on-year, but the company has yet to turn a profit.

China's first ultrasound brain-computer interface company Gestalt Tech has completed a 420 million yuan angel+ round of financing. This round was led by Huaying Capital, with follow-on investments from C Capital, Sequoia China, Lens Technology, China Electronics Health Fund, Sinovation Ventures, Lingang Sci-Tech Innovation Investment, Fudan Furong Capital, and Guotai Venture Capital, among other leading domestic and international investment institutions. Existing shareholders including Daotong Investment, Yunshi Capital, Qingsong Capital, and Gobi Partners continued to oversubscribe. China Renaissance acted as the exclusive financial advisor. At the same time, Gestalt Tech's Shanghai headquarters in the Brain Intelligence Park in Minhang District was officially inaugurated. As of 14:18 on July 3, 2026, the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Biomedical Index rose strongly by 2.69 percent. Among constituent stocks, MGI Tech rose 14.97 percent, Dizal Pharmaceutical rose 10.77 percent, and Olym Biotech rose 8.82 percent, with stocks like Youcare Pharmaceutical and Yundong Biotech also rising. The STAR Medical ETF Huaxia rose 2.17 percent, heading for a fifth consecutive gain, with the latest price at 1.08 yuan. CICC believes that innovative fields represented by AI plus healthcare and brain-computer interfaces are experiencing rapid development, with systems from supporting policies to capital support gradually improving, and such directions may present structural investment opportunities.

The Sci-Tech Innovation Board Medical ETF Huaxia rose 0.66%, heading for a fifth straight gain, with the latest price at 1.07 yuan. As of 1:49 PM on July 3, 2026, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Sci-Tech Innovation Board Biomedical Index surged 1.11%, with constituent Olin Bio up 8.77%, Dizal Pharmaceutical up 7.79%, and MGI Tech up 6.57%. In related news, the 12th round of national centralized drug procurement explicitly includes only mature generics, while innovative drugs still under patent protection are excluded, signaling a policy shift from cost control and price cuts to supporting and strengthening the industry. Zhongtai Securities noted that the pharmaceutical sector's valuation attractiveness and defensive attributes are prominent, with signs of bottoming and recovery emerging at the end of June, especially in CXO and innovative drugs, and recommended focusing on the internationalization of innovative drugs and CRO/CDMO performance delivery targets. The Sci-Tech Innovation Board Medical ETF Huaxia closely tracks the Shanghai Stock Exchange Sci-Tech Innovation Board Biomedical Index, which selects 50 listed companies in biomedical and related fields on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board as samples, with the top ten holdings accounting for 51.84% of the total.

The STAR Market Healthcare ETF Huaxia closed up 2.93 percent, marking a five-day winning streak, with the latest price at 1.09 yuan. The SSE STAR Market Biomedical Index rose strongly by 3.21 percent. Among its constituents, MGI Tech surged 13.64 percent, Hotgen Biotech gained 11.62 percent, and Dizal Pharmaceutical advanced 11.12 percent. In related news, Hotgen Biotech has officially registered and established Beijing Entropy Intelligence Pharmaceutical Technology Company, signaling the phased implementation of its AI-driven drug R&D strategy launched in 2023, and it will continue to increase investment in AI technology for innovative drug business. The STAR Market Healthcare ETF Huaxia has seen net capital inflows for five consecutive days, attracting a total of 57.85 million yuan.