① Staidson's H1 net loss narrowed significantly year-on-year, and the reduced research and development expenses may have played a key role. ② Compared with the same period last year, Staidson has cut off all pipelines related to COVID-19. At the same time, the company's R&D personnel decreased by nearly 60% year-on-year.
According to Cailian News on August 26th, in the first half of this year, Staidson (300204.SZ) significantly narrowed its loss, and the "cliff-like" reduction in research and development investment may have played a key role. Compared with the same period last year, Staidson cut off all pipelines related to COVID-19, and increased the development of multiple drugs, including the treatment of cancer pain, late-stage or metastatic solid tumors. In addition, the company's R&D personnel decreased by nearly 60% year-on-year.
Tonight, Staidson released an announcement stating that in the first half of the year, the company achieved revenue of 0.182 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.69%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was -3.423 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 97.77%.
In terms of quarters, Q1 achieved revenue of 94.9834 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.09%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders was -3.7694 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 92.26%; Q2 achieved revenue of 87.4064 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 16.24%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders was 0.3464 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 100.33%. This is also the first time the company has returned to profit since 2020.
Staidson's main business is the research, production, and sales of biopharmaceuticals, with the main products including Supeptide (injected rat nerve growth factor) and Staidson Clear (complex polyethylene glycol electrolyte powder (IV)) and its series of products.
In the first half of the year, Staidson Clear surpassed Supeptide to become the product with the highest sales revenue of Staidson, achieving sales revenue of 98.99 million yuan, accounting for 54.27% of the revenue, an increase of 20.06% compared to the same period last year. The gross margin increased by 2.84 percentage points year-on-year. Supeptide achieved sales revenue of 78.82 million yuan, accounting for 43.21% of the revenue, a decrease of 5.71% compared to the same period last year. The gross margin decreased by 1.74 percentage points year-on-year. Aspirin enteric-coated tablets contributed sales revenue of 1.83 million yuan.
On the other hand, Staidson stated in the semi-annual report that based on the overall layout of future R&D projects and the consideration of the company's development strategy, the company will focus its resources on the promotion of clinical-stage R&D projects. The R&D expenses for the reporting period were 58.2985 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 70.39%.
In terms of the company's R&D pipeline, in the first half of this year, Staidson terminated the research and development of all drugs for COVID-19 indications. At the same time, it increased the development of STSA-1001 injection for the treatment of cancer pain. The pipeline was approved for clinical trials on January 3rd. SBT-1901 injection for the treatment of late-stage or metastatic solid tumors was approved for clinical trials in the United States on June 24th. In addition, it also includes the development of drugs for the treatment of oligozoospermia, neurotrophic keratitis, and other indications.
It is worth noting that according to the announcement, in the first half of 2023, the company had 269 research and development personnel, accounting for 35.44% of the total number of employees. However, in the first half of this year, there were only 114 research and development personnel, accounting for 20.84% of the total number of employees, a decrease of 57.62% compared to the same period last year.