HUTCHMED (China) Reports H1 2026 Results: Full Earnings Call Transcript

HUTCHMED (China) (NASDAQ: HCM ) released quarterly financial results and hosted an earnings call on Thursday. Read the complete transcript below. This transcript is brought to you APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit for a consultation.

The full earnings call is available at Summary HUTCHMED (China) reported strong first-half financial performance with China product sales growing over 40%, driven by Elunate and Sulanda. The company achieved a 70% increase in ex-US sales for FRUZAQLA through rapid geographic expansion, maintaining full-year revenue guidance of $330 million to $450 million. The R&D expenses rose to $79 million, reflecting increased investment in clinical trials and discovery capabilities, including AI. Strategic initiatives include advancing multiple ATTC programs into clinical trials and expanding the commercial footprint of key drugs like savolitinib and sovleplenib.

4 billion and ongoing discussions for potential collaborations on ATTC programs. The company anticipates further growth opportunities, particularly through NRDL inclusion for key products and a focus on hematology and immunology fields. Full Transcript David, Investor Relations Welcome everyone. Thank you for joining HUTCHMED (China) 2026 interim results announcement and presentation.

Before we start, I would just like to go over the Safe Harbor statement and disclaimer on page two. The performance and results of operation of HUTCHMED (China) contained within this presentation are historical in nature and past performance is no guarantee of future results. Next, I would like to invite our Acting CEO and CFO, Johnny Chen, to start the opening. Johnny Chen, Acting CEO and CFO Okay, thank you, David, and welcome everyone again joining our interim results webcast tonight.

Together with me we have our Deputy CFO, Lorenzo Jiu; also George Yuan, Head of Commercial; and also Dr. Dai, Head of Discovery and Global Portfolio Management. All of us will be sharing with you our first-half results and outlook. So on page four, as you can all see, we have achieved a lot.

In the first half, China product sales had very strong results, especially Elunate and Sulanda, which grew by over 40%. FRUZAQLA global in—market sales were strong; ex—US markets were up 70% after rapid geographic expansion. On the bottom left, we have received two approved label expansions, fruquintinib for RCC and savolitinib for GC. In addition, we have three NDAs in China under priority.

On the top right, our next wave of innovation focuses on AATTCs. We have two first—in—class assets which have entered the phase one clinical trials. A third asset, HMPL—830, has cleared its IND and will be entering the clinic in the second half. At the same time, the global SAFFRON study and the China CENOVO study will have their data readouts in the second half.

I will now hand it over to Lorenzo Jiu, our Deputy CFO, to discuss our financial results. Lorenso Chiu — Senior Vice President Finance- Business Development & Reporting Thank you, Johnny. On slide number six, I'd like to give more details of our financials for the first half of 2026. First of all, our oncology revenue was $162 million, including $121 million products revenue.

This represents about 23% growth over 1H2025. Johnny already mentioned our China products have shown a very good performance in the first half, but I'd like to highlight that ex—China demand for FRUZAQLA continues to grow as well, achieving an overall 40% growth in in—market sales. With this first—half result, our full—year guidance remains in the range of $330 million to $450 million. Altogether with other ventures' revenue, the total group revenue amounted to $278 million.

Next please, on R&D expenses, which amounted to $79 million for the first half compared to $72 million for the first half of 2025. The increase reflects one thing: we initiated the global phase one trials of our AATTC assets, including 251 and 580. In addition, we increased our investments in our discovery capabilities, including our talents and AI. On the bottom line, we continue to be profitable with net income of $16 million.

It is important to note in last year we have included a $460 million SHPL divestment gain and also the share of the post—divestments about $21 million. 4 billion. Now I'd like to hand over to Mr. George, our Head of Commercials, to give an update of China commercial.

George Yuan — EVP, Head of Commercial Thanks, Lorenzo. As Johnny mentioned, global geographic expansion continues to drive our FRUZAQLA growth. If we look at the first half, we see a 70% growth in geography outside of the US, which is very strong, and also if you look at Q2 the growth rate actually accelerated to 27%. We still believe there is opportunity to get more countries launched and also going to the reimbursement.

Takeda already confirmed the fiscal year guidance of 25% growth. Next slide: if we look at China, we have very robust growth for Elunate in a highly competitive market. If we look at the first half, we grew 41%, and the current NRDL renewal brings us continuous growth opportunity with the second—line mCRC included, and also we synchronized our mCRC reimbursement scope with our label. The NRDL renewal actually provides us a unique opportunity for future growth, and also we keep our price flat.

Second—line RCC got approval in May 2026, and this provides us another opportunity to apply for NRDL this year. Based on IQVIA hospital audit and our ATU study, Elunate continues to be a market leader in second—line mCRC. Next slide: beyond FRUZAQLA and Elunate, we also have strong performance on Orpathys and Sulanda. For Orpathys, we are targeting to include such indication in this year's NRDL renewal by end of this year, and also we get approval of third—line MET—amplified GC.

In the coming months we are looking at SAFFRON and CENOVO readout. For Sulanda, we have strong growth in first half based on the highly recommended by CSCO guideline for NET, and also the CSCO guideline changed the recommendation about the SSA. The SSA dose escalation will not be recommended after the disease progression. Also this growth is a result of our focus strategy focused on top—tier cities and the top hospitals.

Next slide: looking to the future, sovleplenib, our SYK inhibitor, will bring us into the hematology and immunology fields. This is a first—in—class medicine and can help patients to transform their treatment both in ITP and wAIHA. If we look at ITP in China, we have 360,000 patients and the current treatment, TPO—R agonists and steroids, still cannot meet the medical needs of those patients. With this product we provide very unique value for those patients for long—term, stable, predictable disease control.

Also for wAIHA, which is a relatively small indication but it's under critical needs for new medicine, we will be the first targeted therapy. After 30 years in the field, we will significantly reduce blood transfusion for those patients. Now I will hand over to Dr. Dai.

Dr. Dai Thank you, George. Now let's transition into our R&D updates. Over the next few slides, I'll share how our late-stage clinical programs are progressing toward key commercial approvals and how our innovative platform is unlocking brand-new opportunities to address major unmet medical needs.

Next slide, please. Looking at our recent achievements, we've hit several critical milestones across both solid tumors and hematology. Our novel ATTC platforms represent a huge strategic growth driver for us globally. The early biological profiles of ATTCs give us high confidence in their ability to target major solid tumors and differentiate from other ADC products.

We've officially taken the first two ATTCs into the clinic: A251 and A580, initiating global Phase I trials. The third, ATTC 830, recently cleared the IND in both the US and in China. We secured approval for fruquintinib in renal cell carcinoma in June 2026. This is another important approval for fruquintinib after CRC and EMC.

With [Xerufenib], we have kept momentum strong with our Phase 3 trial in first-line PD on track, addressing an aggressive cancer subtype with very few viable options. Our second inhibitor is making rapid progress on lung cancer autoimmune indications. The NDAs for ITP and wAIHA are currently under priority review. These mark huge steps towards establishing a new, highly effective standard of care in these conditions.

The pivotal Phase 3 data of ESLIM-2 was recently presented at EHA. This year, savolitinib expanded its commercial footprint with the third-line gastric cancer approval. This is the fourth regulatory approval for savolitinib after previous lung cancer approvals, and 760, our potent BTK inhibitor, successfully initiated its Phase 3 trial in second-line DLBCL, and [Thermigranib] reached a pivotal moment with its NDA acceptance for FGFR-positive intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The data was featured at ESMO GI this year.

Together, these achievements reflect a highly efficient R&D engine, strengthening our commercial presence today while laying the foundation for our global ATTC platform tomorrow. Next slide. Let's dive a bit deeper into our individual core assets, starting with savolitinib, our second potential global commercial product. Savolitinib targets lung cancer driven by MET alterations, which remains an area of significant unmet medical need.

We are fast approaching several important milestones in the second half of this year. We expect data readouts from two key studies, SAFFRON on a global scale and CENOVO in China. SAFFRON is our global registration Phase 3 trial. It targets second-line patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer who developed MET amplification or overexpression after progressing on Tagrisso.

Currently, these patients are on heavy chemotherapy. SAFFRON directly compares our oral combination of savolitinib plus Tagrisso against double chemotherapy. When approved, this trial will replace chemotherapy with an oral targeted option and open access to major markets like the US and Europe. CENOVO targets the first-line setting.

We know that a significant subset of lung cancer patients present with coexisting EGFR mutations and MET overexpression at initial diagnosis. CENOVO evaluates combining savolitinib with Tagrisso directly upfront versus Tagrisso alone. By attacking both targets from day one, our goal is to deliver deeper response and prevent resistance from emerging. 32 in PFS over chemotherapy, these upcoming readouts from SAFFRON and CENOVO position savolitinib to capture leadership across the entire treatment paradigm in MET-driven lung cancer.

Next slide. This slide highlights sovleplenib, which is spearheading our next wave of hematology and autoimmune products. wAIHA is a debilitating disease where red blood cells are destroyed prematurely, leaving patients severely anemic, and often they rely on high-dose steroids and frequent blood transfusions. In our Phase 3 ESLIM-2 study presented at EHA, sovleplenib achieved a 66% durable response rate compared to 15% in the placebo group.

1 weeks, twice as fast as the placebo, with a substantial drop in rescue therapy and transfusion. Only 16% of sovleplenib patients required rescue therapy compared to 54% on the placebo. Furthermore, red blood cell transfusions were significantly reduced to just 11% versus 43% in the control group, allowing patients to taper or completely discontinue their baseline steroids. Then, when you compare this to the emerging peer options like nipocalimab, sovleplenib shows a clear competitive efficacy advantage, delivering a much higher durable response rate without forcing patients to stay on chronic high-risk immunosuppressants.

We are eager to bring sovleplenib to a patient population that hasn't seen a new targeted therapy option in 30 years, and currently the NDA is under priority review in ITP. What sets sovleplenib apart from standard-of-care agents like TPOs and TPO-RAs is exceptional efficacy without the associated thrombotic complication warnings found on their peer labels. In ITP, sovleplenib achieved a striking durable response rate compared to placebo, even though 75% of the enrolled patients had failed prior TPO therapies. ESLIM-1 study is also under priority review in China.

Next slide. Then, turning to slide 17, let's look at our highly potent, selective, and reversible BTK inhibitor characterized by long target engagement. Currently, this is the only BTK inhibitor in late-stage clinical development targeting the second-line DLBCL all-comers. Our Phase 2 study showed encouraging response rate, PFS, and safety profile.

Our Phase 3 registration study in China is actively ongoing, comparing 760 in combination with R-GemOx against placebo plus R-GemOx, with primary endpoints of PFS and OS, and we expect to complete enrollment by the end of 2027. Next slide, please. Here I want to highlight our novel ATTC platform, starting with A251. ADCs like Enhertu have transformed HER2-positive cancer treatment, generating billions in revenue.

However, acquired resistance to DXd, the cytotoxic payload used in Enhertu, remains a major clinical hurdle as patients inevitably progress. The DXd-induced resistance model on the bottom shows that Enhertu loses potency almost completely, shifting the curve far to the right. In the same resistant cell model, because A251 utilizes completely distinct mechanisms targeting the PI3K and PIKK signaling pathways rather than DNA-damaging toxins, its killing activity in DXd-resistant cells, shown in the green curve, remains identical to DXd-sensitive parent cells, shown in the blue curve. Next slide.

And beyond treating drug-resistant tumors, A251 has strong potential as a frontline treatment, as shown in these gynecological cancer and GI cancer xenograft models. Combining A251 with the first-line standard of care yields significant tumor volume reduction compared to either therapy alone, and, crucially, this synergistic effect does not come at the cost of added toxicity, proving A251 can safely be combined, which is what we aim to achieve with ATTCs in the first place, which is better efficacy and better safety.

Our clinical strategy is twofold: a monotherapy track for a fast-to-market approach in late-line setting, and the combination track targeting frontline indications. And our extensive preclinical data support the A251 dual-track strategy. The clinical trial is on track at dose-escalation stage. Next slide.

Our second ATTC asset is A580, which pairs the same payload with an EGFR-targeting antibody. Blockbuster drugs like Tagrisso treat EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer, but resistance eventually develops. In a non-small cell lung cancer model carrying the challenging EGFR exon 19 deletion and the resistant mutation, third-generation TKIs like Tagrisso completely lose control of tumor growth, as shown by the red curve. A580, represented by the blue curve, achieved profound and sustained tumor regression as a single agent.

This highlights its enormous potential for lung cancer patients. Next slide. Then, by combining A580 with an EGFR inhibitor, we can simultaneously shut down primary receptor signaling and the downstream escape pathways. The preclinical data reflect a highly significant synergistic antitumor efficacy, supporting our long-term plan to move this asset into frontline cancer regimens.

This global asset entered a Phase I trial earlier this year. The trial is going very well, recruiting patients from China sites and US sites in parallel. Next slide. What makes our ATTC platform so unique is the payload itself.

Historically, the industry has struggled with PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways. Pan-PI3K or dual PI3K/mTOR small molecules were simply too toxic to be delivered systemically, resulting in severe side effects like hyperglycemia or mucositis. Single-node inhibitors were safer, but their efficacy was limited. Our innovation was to design a highly selective payload that harvests multiple key nodes along both the PI3K and PI3K/AKT pathways with very high affinity, and then tether it to an antibody.

This ensures the payload is delivered inside the tumor cells, maximizing intracellular kinase inhibition while sparing healthy tissues from systemic toxicities. The kinase tree on the right illustrates this high selectivity of the payload. Next slide. The ATTC approach opens up massive opportunities.

The PI3K/AKT pathway is the single most frequently altered pathway across all solid tumors. It plays a dominant role in breast cancer, lung cancer, gastric and ovarian cancers. By effectively targeting this pathway with our ATTC technology, we can potentially reach millions of patients across a wide range of cancer types. Next slide.

With A251 and A580 currently in global trials, A830 entering the clinic soon, and more candidates behind them, our pipeline is well positioned to deliver sustained growth for years to come. Thank you, and I'll give it back to John. Johnny Chen, Acting CEO and CFO Thank you, Dr. Dai.

A quick highlight on our outlook. So, on the innovation side, as mentioned by Dr. Dai, multiple ATTC programs are progressing well, and we believe around this time next year there should be a total of five programs already in clinics. More importantly, our efforts in AI will be transforming and accelerating further discovery and development in our innovation platform.

On the commercial side, we expect Fruzaqla's sales growth to continue. We anticipate it will reach its next sales milestone in the near term.