The global FIC/BIC innovation matrix leads the endocrine track, analyzing the core logic of VISEN PHARMA's value growth

Since 2025, the Hang Seng Index has risen by 20% within two months, essentially reflecting a structural shift in the pricing logic of international capital towards Chinese assets, leading to an overall market valuation adjustment period. For VISEN PHARMA, which possesses both scarcity and high certainty, this is an opportune time to enter the capital market.

According to Zhitong Finance APP, VISEN PHARMA has opened its subscription on March 13 and is expected to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 21. The prospectus shows that the company plans to globally issue 9.9 million shares, with 990,000 shares for the Hong Kong offering and 8.91 million shares for the international offering; the offering price is set at HKD 68.44 to HKD 75.28 per share.

The company has introduced five cornerstone investors for this IPO, including Anke Bio, Suzhou Industrial Park Industry Investment Fund, Vivo Capital, WuXi Biologics, and Reynold Lemkins.

The IPO entering the subscription phase means that the new share subscription channel for VISEN PHARMA has been opened. For investors participating in the new share subscription of an innovative drug company in the Hong Kong stock market, it is essential to focus on the company's potential growth space and innovative research and development capabilities, grasping the unexpected commercial value behind the company's innovative product pipeline, which is also the core logic for long-term investment in VISEN PHARMA.

Dual Engine Drive, Together Unlocking Valuation Ceiling

Unlike most innovative drug companies in the Hong Kong stock market that cluster around popular fields such as oncology or autoimmune diseases, VISEN PHARMA uniquely chooses the endocrine field, which has certain technical barriers but a huge unmet therapeutic demand, as its main pipeline direction. It builds its commercialization landscape using a "big engine + small engine" model, covering a complete endocrine treatment scenario from common diseases to rare diseases.

This is clearly based on VISEN PHARMA's profound insights into clinical needs.

According to Frost & Sullivan data, the market size of non-diabetic endocrine drugs in China has shown strong growth, increasing from RMB 11.7 billion in 2018 to RMB 20.8 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.2%; it is expected to further grow to RMB 74.2 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.9% from 2023 to 2030.

However, in contrast to this vast incremental market, there are very few innovative drug companies in the same field domestically. The fundamental reason lies in the high technical entry barriers in the endocrine treatment field.

Taking pediatric growth hormone deficiency (PGHD) as an example, which is commonly referred to as dwarfism, this condition is caused by a dysfunction in the secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland, with an incidence rate of approximately 1 in 5000 children.

From a treatment perspective, short-acting recombinant human growth hormone is currently the most common treatment option for pediatric growth hormone deficiency. However, this treatment requires daily injections, severely affecting the daily lives of affected children and leading to poor treatment adherence. Other studies have shown that the phenomenon of missed injections with daily growth hormone preparations is common among children, and missing 1-2 injections per week will significantly reduce treatment effectiveness.

Therefore, the use of long-acting growth hormone (LAGH), which has a lower injection frequency and higher patient adherence, has become an inevitable trend in the development of the growth hormone market. Predictive data indicates that the global growth hormone market is expected to reach USD 4.8 billion by 2030, with the Chinese market accounting for over 34% Ascendis Pharma will seize this strategic high ground relying on the world's first long-acting growth hormone—lonapegsomatropin (TransCon hGH), which has been proven to be superior to daily growth hormone formulations.

Compared to similar long-acting solutions, Ascendis Pharma's lonapegsomatropin uses the TransCon (Transient Conjugation) patented technology as a prodrug platform. In addition to being injected once a week, lonapegsomatropin has also shown excellent efficacy data compared to short-acting solutions. According to publicly available data on marketed long-acting growth hormone (LAGH) products, lonapegsomatropin is currently the only long-acting product that has been clinically proven to be more effective than daily growth hormone formulations, demonstrating clear Best-in-Class (BIC) attributes, and is expected to dominate the LAGH market in China after its launch.

Currently, lonapegsomatropin has been approved in Europe and the United States. Notably, lonapegsomatropin (international brand name: SKYTROFA), as the first long-acting growth hormone for treating children with growth hormone deficiency in the United States, is expected to become the leading brand of growth hormone in the U.S. market in the fourth quarter of 2023. According to Ascendis Pharma's financial report, the overseas sales of lonapegsomatropin are projected to reach €197 million in 2024.

In addition to lonapegsomatropin as a commercial "big engine," palopegteriparatide (TransCon PTH) is also worth noting as a medium- to long-term commercial "small engine" for Ascendis Pharma.

As a global First-in-Class (FIC) product, palopegteriparatide is a hormone replacement therapy drug under development by Ascendis Pharma for adult chronic hypoparathyroidism (HP), aiming to maintain physiological levels of parathyroid hormone through daily subcutaneous injections.

Hypoparathyroidism is the last endocrine hormone deficiency disease that has not yet achieved hormone replacement therapy. From a market perspective, there is a potential patient population of 400,000 with a strong treatment demand, requiring lifelong continuous medication.

As the world's first hormone replacement therapy for hypoparathyroidism, palopegteriparatide may disrupt traditional treatment plans and standards, and promote adjustments to hypoparathyroidism treatment guidelines. This product has already been approved for marketing in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In January 2023, the double-blind phase of the pivotal Phase 3 trial for palopegteriparatide in China was completed, achieving the primary composite endpoint and entering the open-label extension phase. With Ascendis Pharma's efficient clinical advancement, the commercialization process of palopegteriparatide in China is accelerating, and after approval, it is expected to become the first hormone replacement therapy for hypoparathyroidism in the domestic market, helping patients overcome traditional treatment challenges while continuously enhancing the company's revenue levels.

From a commercialization construction perspective, Ascendis Pharma has built a set of commercial "big and small engines" to support the company's medium- to long-term stable growth around the two key products, lonapegsomatropin and palopegteriparatide The company's commercial value growth certainty will continue to improve, collectively breaking the company's valuation ceiling.

Efficient Development Drives Continuous Enhancement of Intrinsic Value

Although it has not been established for long, VISEN PHARMA has completed the full process breakthrough from research and development to product listing application in just 6 years, mainly due to the core team of the company having over 20 years of experience in multinational pharmaceutical companies, covering the entire cycle of drug discovery, clinical development, and commercialization, fully demonstrating its "high efficiency and strong execution" characteristics of a biotech firm.

Currently, VISEN PHARMA has formed an endocrine product pipeline consisting of three endocrine pipelines: a new long-acting growth hormone (Lonapegsomatropin), a treatment for achondroplasia (Nusirtin), and a treatment for hypoparathyroidism (Parathyroid hormone). The three endocrine therapeutic drugs in VISEN PHARMA's pipeline have all reached clinical endpoints in clinical trials in China, consistent with overseas clinical trial results, and the TransCon technology platform has thus been strongly validated in China. The TransCon technology platform can extend the drug half-life to several weeks through "temporary connection" molecular design while retaining the biological activity of the prototype drug.

In addition to the large and small engines, another key candidate drug from VISEN PHARMA is also a first-in-class (FIC) product. The pipeline product Nusirtin, targeting the rare disease achondroplasia (ACH), has currently completed phase II clinical trials in China, achieving the primary endpoint. According to Sullivan data, the number of patients with achondroplasia in China in 2023 is 51,200 cases.

It is worth mentioning that VISEN established strategic cooperation with well-known domestic organizations and academic institutions such as the China Rare Disease Alliance and Peking University Clinical Research Institute at its inception. By integrating industry, academia, and research resources, it conducts relevant epidemiological surveys and studies, promoting a comprehensive understanding and grasp of the epidemiological status of endocrine diseases and rare diseases by relevant Chinese departments, assisting in the prevention and treatment of achondroplasia (ACH) and hypoparathyroidism (HP) in China, fully reflecting VISEN's patient-first principle and sense of social responsibility.

In summary, VISEN PHARMA meets the market's value judgment for a high-quality innovative pharmaceutical company in terms of niche track, technological barriers, and efficient research and development. Based on these advantages, the company was selected by Sequoia China Fund to lead the investment during the Series B financing, with many well-known institutions such as Aobo Capital and Sherpa Investment participating, reflecting institutional investors' high recognition of VISEN PHARMA's investment value.

Against the backdrop of homogenization in biotech research and development in the Hong Kong stock market, VISEN PHARMA, which pursues meticulous cultivation in the endocrine track, is expected to become a rare "high growth, high barrier, high certainty" target in the sector after a successful listing, continuously releasing its intrinsic value