SHANGHAI, March 25 (Reuters) - Jiangsu Hengrui

Pharmaceuticals, China's biggest drugmaker by market

value, reported fourth-quarter profit below market expectations

on Wednesday, as income from business development deals has

failed to appear.

The specialist in oncology, neurology, immunology,

respiratory, metabolic and cardiovascular drugs has expanded

licensing deals and developed more innovative drugs amid

Beijing's centralised bulk buying programmes, which have

squeezed generic drug revenues.

In September, Hengrui agreed to grant a paid licence for its

innovative cancer drug, trastuzumab rezetecan, to the Swiss arm

of India's Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, with an upfront

payment of $18 million under the deal.

The deal was a part of a string of new licensing agreements

earlier last year with overseas drugmakers such as Merck ( MRK )

and Britain's GSK.

Hengrui's revenue from innovative drug sales increased

26.09% in 2025 but revenue from generic drug slipped, it said in

its annual report.

The company recorded 1.96 billion yuan ($284.10 million) in

net profit attributable to shareholders for the quarter ended

December 31, its annual report showed, below HSBC Qianhai

Securities analysts' estimate of 2.7 billion yuan.

Net profit for the entire 2025 rose 21.69% to 7.71 billion

yuan.

($1 = 6.8989 Chinese yuan renminbi)