JACOBIO expects that, in addition to the upfront payment from AstraZeneca, the sales revenue share in 2026 after Aito is included in the medical insurance will also see significant growth.
<h4>Key Points:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Early clinical data for the pan-KRAS inhibitor JAB-23E73 has been released, showing excellent safety and efficacy.</li>
<li>By the end of the first quarter of 2026, the company's cash balance is expected to exceed 2 billion yuan.</li>
</ul>
Molly
Currently, the valuation logic for Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies is no longer solely based on pipeline layout and business development expectations, but also on the core clinical data supporting the products, global competitiveness, and future commercialization potential. On March 10, JACOBIO Pharmaceutical Group Limited (1167.HK) released its 2025 annual performance and disclosed early clinical data for the pan-KRAS inhibitor JAB-23E73, which demonstrated excellent safety and efficacy. With the confirmation of the $100 million upfront payment from the collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca, the company's management has clearly provided a profit timeline, expecting to achieve profitability in 2026.
2025 marks the commercialization year for JACOBIO, as its self-developed KRAS G12C inhibitor Aito is expected to be approved for market launch by the National Medical Products Administration in May 2025 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer patients with KRAS G12C mutations who have previously received at least first-line systemic therapy. To accelerate market penetration, JACOBIO chose to collaborate with Eli Lilly (688578.SH) as early as 2024, with the latter responsible for the sales and promotion of the product in China. Aito was successfully included in the national medical insurance catalog in December 2025, and JACOBIO received 53.5 million yuan in milestone payments and sales revenue share from this product.
In addition to successfully commercializing the product, the most striking aspect of JACOBIO's performance announcement is the clinical data update for the pan-KRAS inhibitor JAB-23E73. The RAS family, primarily consisting of KRAS, NRAS, and HRAS, is one of the most common oncogenic driver genes in human tumors, with approximately 20%-30% of solid tumors carrying RAS mutations, among which KRAS mutations account for the highest proportion. However, for decades, this target has been considered undruggable. Pan-KRAS inhibitors have shown better efficacy by inhibiting multiple KRAS mutations, especially when used in combination with other targeted drugs, and are expected to overcome resistance, making them a key focus for major pharmaceutical companies.
Phase I clinical trial data for JAB-23E73 shows that among the 42 enrolled patients, only 11.9% experienced grade 3 treatment-related adverse events, while the incidence of grade 3 or higher adverse events for a similar product RMC-6236 from Revolution Medicines reached 22%. Additionally, among 13 evaluable pancreatic cancer patients receiving a dose of ≥160mg/day, the objective response rate (ORR) reached 38.5%, and the disease control rate (DCR) was 84.6%, indicating good potential for JAB-23E73 in the treatment of pancreatic cancer
The financial report shows that JACOBIO achieved revenue of 53.5 million yuan in 2025, a decrease from 156 million yuan in 2024, mainly due to a reduction in revenue from licensing collaborations and clinical trial services. However, while adjusting the revenue scale, the company demonstrated significant financial management capabilities, with administrative expenses reduced by 20.2%. The total R&amp;D expenditure for the year was 189 million yuan, a substantial decrease of 42.9% year-on-year, primarily due to the absence of large-scale key clinical trials during the reporting period, and the key experiments for the drug Aitric and another investigational oncology drug SHP2 inhibitor sitneprotafib (JAB-3312) were managed and fully funded by Eli Lilly, which greatly alleviated JACOBIO's financial burden. As a result, the company's net loss attributable to shareholders narrowed to 146 million yuan.
<h4>Abundant Cash Flow</h4>
Based on the positive early data from JAB-23E73, JACOBIO entered into a licensing collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca in December 2025, worth up to 2.015 billion USD, setting a record for the amount of external licensing for small molecule anti-cancer drugs in clinical stages in China. According to the agreement, both parties will jointly develop and commercialize JAB-23E73 in the Chinese market, while AstraZeneca will obtain exclusive rights for markets outside of China. JACOBIO will receive a 100 million USD upfront payment and is eligible for up to 1.915 billion USD in development and commercialization milestone payments, as well as a share of sales in markets outside of China.
As of December 31, 2025, JACOBIO's cash and bank balance totaled approximately 974 million yuan. The company expects that with the 100 million USD upfront payment from AstraZeneca expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2026, its cash balance will surge to over 2 billion yuan. This ample cash reserve provides at least five years of funding assurance for the continued R&amp;D of its pipeline. Dr. Wang Yinxiang, Chairman and CEO of JACOBIO, stated that in addition to the upfront payment from AstraZeneca, the sales share revenue from Aitric after its inclusion in medical insurance is also expected to see significant growth in 2026, and multiple external collaboration projects, if they progress, are likely to yield potential milestone payments. These factors are expected to enable the company to turn a profit in 2026.
In addition to deepening its efforts in the KRAS field, JACOBIO is also laying out a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform, including a &#34;targeted ADC&#34; JAB-BX600 that targets EGFR and incorporates a KRAS G12D inhibitor, as well as JAB-BX467, which targets HER2 and incorporates a STING agonist. Both projects are planned to submit clinical trial applications in the second half of 2026. Currently, JACOBIO's market capitalization is only 5.5 billion HKD, while JinFang Pharmaceutical (2595.HK), which also focuses on the KRAS field, has a market capitalization of 10.4 billion HKD, indicating that the market may not have fully priced in the potential of its pan-KRAS assets and the upcoming profitability inflection point, making it worthy of investor attention

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JACOBIO Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. is expected to turn a profit by 2026, mainly due to its collaboration with AstraZeneca and the market promotion of its KRAS G12C inhibitor, Aerie. The company will enter its first year of commercialization in 2025, with Aerie successfully included in the national medical insurance catalog, and sales revenue from profit-sharing is expected to increase significantly. In addition, early clinical data for the pan-KRAS inhibitor JAB-23E73 has shown excellent performance, demonstrating good safety and efficacy

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JACOBIO enters its first year of commercialization, with strong BD support, and profitability expected by 2026