A company set up to develop Hengrui Pharma's weight-loss drugs has made a strong debut on the U.S. equity market, building confidence in the "NewCo" business model

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Key Takeaways:

  • Hengrui's diluted stake in the hived-off company, Kailera Therapeutics, has reached a value of about $300 million after the stock's debut
  • The Kailera IPO comes a month after another NewCo success story – the lucrative sale of a firm hived off from drug developer Keymed

When Chinese drugmakers began spinning off promising pipelines into standalone companies, they faced market concern and skepticism. The strategy was considered an unproven and potentially risky way to monetize their clinical assets.

But the attitude towards these so-called NewCos – corporate vehicles housing specific drugs under development – has brightened this year after one of the Chinese spin-offs was bought out by a multinational, delivering a big payoff for the original developer.

And now another leading Chinese pharmaceutical firm, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. (1276.HK; 600276.SH), has provided further evidence to validate the NewCo model. A company with rights to a portfolio of weight-loss drugs incubated by Hengrui, Kailera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:KLRA) has just made a strong trading debut on the Nasdaq.

The newly listed firm was set up as a corporate wrapper for Hengrui Pharma's GLP-1 assets, with shareholders including Bain Capital Life Sciences, Atlas Venture, RTW Investments and Lyra Capital, along with other specialized investment institutions. The Kailera share price surged about 63% on its first U.S. trading day, offering a windfall opportunity for its stakeholders and backers.

It was the second NewCo success story in a matter of months, after a company set up by Keymed Biosciences (2162.HK) to fast-track an immunotherapy drug was acquired by Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in March, delivering a healthy investment return.

Hengrui's NewCo experiment began in 2024, when Kailera – originally named Hercules – was founded and acquired global rights outside Greater China for three Hengrui GLP-1 drug candidates. Those assets include ribupatide (HRS953), a GLP-1/GIP dual agonist, the oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist HRS-7535, and the triple agonist HRS-4729. Hengrui received an upfront payment and technology transfer fees totaling $110 million, as well as a stake of around 19.9% in the new entity, along with potential milestone income of up to $6 billion.

Through the deal, Hengrui Pharma enjoyed a swift injection of cash while retaining a link to the drugs' ongoing prospects through its Kailera stake. Even though Hengrui's shareholding was diluted to about 9.8%, the value of its stake has climbed to around $300 million based on Kailera's first-day closing price.

Backed by prominent names in venture capital, the newly formed Kailera moved swiftly into fund-raising mode, completing a $400 million Series A round in October 2024. In July 2025, Hengrui and Kailera jointly announced positive results from a Phase Three Chinese trial for the ribupatide anti-obesity injection. In October of the same year, Kailera completed another $600 million Series B financing. The company then went public in April, raising $625 million in a Nasdaq IPO — the largest listing to date by a Chinese pharmaceutical company using the NewCo model.

Kailera has achieved a relatively high valuation on the back of its weight-loss assets. Its core product, ribupatide, has entered Phase Three overseas trials for obesity, while two of its oral GLP-1 drugs are also due to enter global testing this year. Proceeds from the IPO will be used to advance those pipelines, positioning the company as a direct rival to global giants such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

After Kailera's IPO, Morgan Stanley maintained an "overweight" rating on Hengrui Pharma, citing the potential to monetize the GLP-1 portfolio through rising equity value, milestone payments and royalties, generating reliable cash flow.

Steady income stream

Hengrui has deployed the NewCo structure more than once. A similar model was used in September 2025 for overseas rights to a medication to treat a heart muscle condition. The cardiac myosin inhibitor HRS-1893 was licensed to Braveheart Bio, a company backed by venture capital firms Forbion and OrbiMed. The deal included an upfront payment and equity consideration totaling $65 million, with a potential total value of up to $1.09 billion.

Hengrui struck five overseas licensing deals last year worth 3.39 billion yuan ($500 million), a year-on-year rise of nearly 26%, establishing a new growth engine as it shifts from supplying generic drugs to pioneering new treatments. The company's revenues rose 13% in 2025 to 31.63 billion yuan, while net profit increased almost 22% to a post-listing high of 7.71 billion yuan. Revenue from innovative drugs jumped 26% to 16.34 billion yuan, accounting for around 58% of total pharmaceutical sales and surpassing income from generics.

However, the NewCo model takes Hengrui only part of the way to international status and commercial success. While such tactics have helped to unlock pipeline value ahead of product delivery, the portfolio still lacks drugs with blockbuster sales, capping Hengrui's equity market value.

The firm trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of around 53 times, while fellow drug developer BeiGene, now BeOne Medicines (NASDAQ:ONC) (6160.HK; 688235.SH) commands an elevated multiple of 132 times, despite only pulling out of the red last year with a profit just one fifth the size of Hengrui's bottom line.

For now, investors are granting a bigger premium to BeiGene's business potential. Converting its strong R&D pipeline into commercially successful and globally competitive products will be a key challenge for Hengrui going forward.

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Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.