AcroBiosystems leans on overseas sales in renewed Hong Kong listing bid

The company leads the field for recombinant proteins among its domestic peers, but overseas companies dominate the international market

Key Takeaways:

• AcroBiosystems has applied to list in Hong Kong, reporting its revenue grew nearly 30% in 2025, even as its net margin fell about 7 percentage points from 2023
• The company has relatively large cash reserves, and plans to use funds from the new listing to support overseas expansion and industry chain investment

By Molly Wen

A fast-growing cohort of innovative drug developers is providing fertile ground for the development of upstream biopharmaceutical suppliers, many of which are accelerating plans to tap the capital markets. One of those is AcroBiosystems Co. Ltd. (301080.SZ), which this month filed a new application to list in Hong Kong, complementing its existing domestic listing in Shenzhen.

Founded in 2010, the company is a relative old-timer on China’s biopharma scene, producing upstream life science tools for the biopharmaceutical industry. Its main business is biological reagents, including recombinant proteins, antibodies and analytical and testing kits, with a customer base consisting mostly of biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions. Its products and technical services are typically used in therapeutic areas involving oncology, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases. They support the development of innovative therapies, including antibody drugs, cell and gene therapies, vaccines and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Third-party research in the prospectus shows that AcroBiosystems ranked third among global recombinant protein suppliers by revenue last year, and was first among suppliers in China. But while the company is king of the China roost, the international market remains dominated by overseas companies. The world’s two largest suppliers together held 33% of the market last year, while AcroBiosystems had a much smaller share of about 2.7%.

Recombinant proteins are produced using genetic engineering and are important research materials used for drug development. Demand for related biological reagents has continued to grow in recent years alongside development of antibody drugs, cell and gene therapies, and AI-assisted drug development. As those cutting-edge therapies have grown in number, the global market for recombinant protein reagents is expected to more than double from $3.5 billion in 2025 to $8.6 billion in 2032. Over the same period, the China market is expected to more than triple from $400 million to $1.3 billion, representing 17% annual growth.

That backdrop of rising demand has created fertile ground for AcroBiosystems, which has notched strong double-digit growth in recent years. The prospectus shows its revenue rose from 544 million yuan ($81.5 million) in 2023 to 838 million yuan last year. Its profit was less stable, dropping from 148 million yuan in 2023 to 120 million yuan the next year, before rebounding to 165 million yuan in 2025. The company’s revenue rose 31.3% year-on-year to 606 million yuan in the first seven months of 2026, while its profit rose 36.7% to about 123 million yuan.

Substantial technical expertise required to make products like recombinant proteins, and strict customer requirements for product quality and batch-to-batch consistency, create high barriers to entry, allowing companies like AcroBiosystems to maintain enviably high gross margins. The company’s gross margin has ranged between 83% and 85% over the last three years, most recently coming in at 83.1% in the first seven months of 2026.

Investing across the industry chain

While its margins are high, AcroBiosystems’ profitability is being challenged by rising operating expenses. That caused its net margin to fall from 27.1% in 2023 to 19.7% in 2025, before recovering slightly to 20.3% in the first seven months of 2026. The erosion was related to growing R&D, selling and administrative expenses. The company’s R&D spending rose from 125 million yuan in 2023 to 184 million yuan last year, while its selling expenses increased from 168 million yuan to 249 million yuan. Those higher expenses partly offset the company’s additional profit generated by revenue growth.

Notably, AcroBiosystems is different from many of the startups it serves in its substantial financial reserves. Its Shenzhen listing in 2021 raised gross proceeds of about 2.25 billion yuan, and the company had about 1.76 billion yuan in cash and other financial assets at the end of July this year. Its net assets at that time stood at about 2.69 billion yuan, and its gearing ratio was quite low at just 3.9%.

With no urgent need for fresh funds, the company’s Hong Kong listing is aimed more at expanding its access to international capital markets and raising its global profile. It will also provide funding for automated laboratory construction, expansion of its overseas sales network and for strategic acquisitions.

Overseas markets are another focus of AcroBiosystems’ expansion plans. In the first seven months of 2026, overseas revenue accounted for 60.8% of the company’s total, with the U.S. contributing over half of that, at 38.2%. That exposes the company to changes in the U.S.-China trade relationship, which has been volatile lately.

In addition to in-house R&D, AcroBiosystems is seeking to expand its presence across the industry chain through new investments. On Sept. 9, it announced a 150 million yuan investment in the Suzhou Rongsheng Baipu Venture Capital Fund, giving it a 30% stake in the fund alongside other professional investors. The fund has initial subscribed capital of 500 million yuan and will focus on unlisted companies in areas including life science tools and services, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and biomanufacturing.

AcroBiosystems’ Shenzhen-listed shares have been volatile lately. At their Oct. 19 close of 96.42 yuan, the stock has lost nearly a third of its value from the 141.07 yuan where it traded on Sept. 30. In valuation terms, the company’s Shenzhen shares command a significantly higher price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio than some of its Hong Kong-listed peers. Its ratio is about 90 times, compared with about 36 times for Hong Kong-listed WuXi Biologics (2269.HK). While AcroBiosystems has a high gross margin and remains profitable, its current valuation already reflects expectations for high growth. Whether its international expansion and industry-chain investments can deliver such growth will be key considerations for investors as the company moves ahead with its Hong Kong IPO.

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