Good News on Listing | Frost & Sullivan Assists Hua Fen Biotechnology (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. to Successfully List on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (2396.HK)

Huafeng Biotechnology (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'Huafeng Biotech') successfully went public on December 22, 2025. The company plans to issue a total of 17,648,800 H shares globally, of which 10% will be publicly offered in Hong Kong and 90% internationally. The maximum selling price for this issue will not exceed HK$51.0 per share.

During the process of listing in Hong Kong this time, Frost & Sullivan mainly undertook the following tasks: helping the issuer accurately and objectively understand its positioning in the target market, using objective market data to discover, support and highlight the issuer's competitive advantages, assisting the issuer, investment banks and other intermediaries in completing the writing of relevant parts of the prospectus (such as overview, competitive advantages and strategy, industry overview, business and other important chapters), helping the issuer complete communication with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and investors, assisting investors in quickly understanding the market ecosystem and competitive landscape, and providing assistance to the issuer in completing feedback on various industry-related issues from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, etc.

Frost & Sullivan has always been a leader in helping companies go public in Hong Kong. According to LiveReport's big data (statistical data as of September 30, 2025), from January to September 2025, as well as during the past 12 and 36 months, Frost & Sullivan provided listing industry advisory services for 47 (market share of 72%), 62 (market share of 69%), and 162 (market share of 70%) Hong Kong-listed IPOs, ranking first in terms of number. It has a wealth of industry experience and communication experience with regulatory authorities, exchanges, investment and financing institutions, and various related institutions.

• China currently does not have commercial human PDGF drugs. The company's core product Pro-101-1/Pro-101-2 is at the forefront of research and development progress, and it is expected to fill the market gap first after approval.

   

• The company is deeply involved in the fields of wound healing and tissue repair, focusing on scenarios with strong clinical needs such as burns and scalds, diabetic foot ulcers, and those with clear payment willingness and treatment space.

   

• The technology platform centered on PDGF can be extended to multiple wound repair indications, which is conducive to forming a product matrix and reducing the marginal cost of new R&D.

   

• PDGF protein drugs have high requirements in terms of expression, purification, quality control, and formulation stability. The company's long-term investment is expected to consolidate its advantages in process and quality systems.

   

• The company has positioned multiple candidate products around PDGF, forming a tiered structure of 'core products + follow-on expansion', which is conducive to continuously releasing growth momentum.

   

• The aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases are driving a continuous growth in demand for wound repair. The improvement in the penetration rate of innovative therapies is expected to bring incremental space.

The market for wound healing has a large scale and diverse structure, covering multiple sub-sectors targeting different medical needs and treatment goals. It can be applied in scenarios such as diabetic foot, burns and scalds, pressure ulcers, hemorrhoids, solar dermatitis, radiation ulcers, new wounds, gastric ulcers, dry eye, corneal injury, and hair loss. Although the disease types involved are extensive, including both trauma and chronic diseases, the core goal is to provide effective solutions to promote wound repair and recovery. Therefore, the market has formed a relatively rich combination of drugs and treatment methods to meet the differentiated needs of different diseases and populations.

Looking at the overall trend, sales in China's wound healing-related market are expected to continue growing. In 2018, the total market sales were about 828 billion yuan, which will increase to about 957 billion yuan by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of about 2.4% from 2018 to 2024. This growth reflects both the continuous rise in demand for wound treatment and the continuous advancement of medical technology and treatment methods. It is expected that the market size will grow from about 957 billion yuan in 2024 to about 1,040 billion yuan in 2028 and about 1,180 billion yuan in 2033; the compound annual growth rate from 2024 to 2028 will be about 2.1%, and from 2028 to 2033 it will be about 2.6%.

Growth factors are a class of polypeptides that act as signaling molecules between cells. They can stimulate cell proliferation, promote wound healing, and induce cell differentiation, playing an important role in regulating various cellular processes. Different types of growth factors can promote the differentiation and maturation of different cell types. For example, epidermal growth factor (EGF) can enhance osteogenic differentiation; fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) can promote vascular differentiation (i.e., angiogenesis). Among these growth factors, PDGF has been reliably studied to promote wound healing (especially suitable for non-healing wounds such as diabetic foot), and the application of some related products has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The following table lists a comparison between different types of growth factors:

The global growth factor drug market is expected to continue expanding from 2018 to 2033. The market size is projected to grow from about RMB 132 billion in 2018 to about RMB 159 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of about 3.1% from 2018 to 2024, mainly driven by increased demand for growth factor therapies and the development of new indications. It is expected that the market will continue to grow from 2024 to 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of about 5.4%. By 2028, the market size is expected to reach about RMB 197 billion, mainly driven by the continuous application of recombinant human growth factor products and the expansion into new therapeutic scenarios.

Looking ahead, it is expected that the market will continue to grow from 2028 to 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of about 4.2%. By 2033, the market size is expected to reach approximately RMB 242 billion. The sustained growth of the market is expected to benefit from increased penetration rates of related products and the continuous advancement of innovative therapeutic applications. The table below lists the historical and forecasted scale of the global growth factor drug market from 2018 to 2033, divided by predicted demand:

The global growth factor drug market includes PDGF, FGF, KGF, EGF, and NGF. Calculated on a 2024 basis, the market shares of these sub-categories in the global market are approximately 12.4%, 36.3%, 10.9%, 18.8%, and 21.6% respectively.

From 2018 to 2020, the Chinese growth factor drug market as a whole experienced a decline. The main reasons include: First, during 2018-2019, China's attention to side effects of non-human growth factor products increased, leading to stricter regulation; second, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted logistics and supply chains to some extent, resulting in a temporary supply shortage of growth factor-related drugs in 2020. With the introduction of more human growth factor products, the market gradually recovered starting from 2021, reaching a market size of about RMB 6.3 billion by 2024.

Driven by factors such as growing demand, expanding indications, and enhanced consumer purchasing power among residents, the growth factor drug market in China is expected to continue expanding. By 2028, the market size is expected to increase to about RMB 9 billion, further rising to about RMB 11.6 billion by 2033; the compound annual growth rates for 2024-2028 and 2028-2033 are expected to be about 9.4% and 5.0%, respectively.

As of the latest practicable date, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved three growth factor drugs, one of which is a PDGF drug, as detailed below:

The Chinese growth factor drug market is mainly composed of FGF, EGF, and NGF. Among them, FGF drugs have the largest market share in 2024, accounting for about 57.7%; followed by EGF and NGF, with market shares of about 27.1% and 13.2% respectively. Currently, the main indications for growth factor drugs approved for marketing in China are concentrated on skin wounds, ophthalmology, and the nervous system. Among these, skin wound-related indications account for about 66.5%, mainly consisting of EGF and FGF. Application scenarios include burn and scald wounds, chronic wounds, and new wounds. As of now, there are no PDGF drugs approved for marketing by regulatory authorities in China.

As of 2021, there are no mRNA drugs in the Chinese market. However, many companies have made progress in this field, and several clinical trials are nearing NDA status.In 2024, the Chinese mRNA drug market began to enter a period of rapid growth, with sales reaching RMB 8 billion. Subsequently, the market is expected to grow to RMB 5.9 billion in 2024, a significant decrease from RMB 4.8 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.1%. The main reason is the gradual alleviation of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced the demand for mRNA drugs. It is expected that the market will gradually recover and reach RMB 6.1 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.0%; mainly driven by technological innovation and pandemic demand.

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are short fragments of single-stranded DNA or RNA. These molecules selectively bind to specific mRNA sequences through complementary pairing, thereby inhibiting the translation process of mRNA. This targeted approach can precisely regulate gene expression. The unique characteristics of ASOs make them valuable in multiple medical fields, mainly used for treating genetic diseases, tumors, central nervous system disorders, etc., and can also serve as therapeutic tools for studying disease mechanisms.

The Chinese ASO treatment market shows momentum growth, increasing from RMB 8.78 billion in 2018 to RMB 482.0 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.8%. The main reason is the innovation of ASO therapies, which target specific genetic diseases by regulating gene expression. By the end of 2021, an ASO drug was approved for entry into the Chinese market, leading to a significant growth in the Chinese ASO treatment market. The Chinese ASO treatment market is expected to grow from RMB 482.0 billion in 2024 to RMB 656.0 billion in 2028, and further to RMB 1510.0 billion by 2033. The compound annual growth rate from 2024 to 2028 is 11.9%. The main growth factors include increasing recognition of the efficacy of ASO therapies in clinical treatment, expansion into new therapeutic areas, and development of new ASO candidate products.