Taikang increases its stake in Fosun Pharma; insurance capital accelerates investment in innovative drugs.
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On November 26, Taikang Life Insurance issued a shareholder disclosure announcement, revealing that the company’s Hong Kong subsidiary has increased its holdings in Fosun Pharma’s H shares by 518,500 shares, raising its stake to 5.1% of the company’s H share capital.
Prior to this move, Taikang Life Insurance already held a 4.78% stake in Fosun Pharma’s H shares.
Based on the closing price on November 20, the balance of Fosun Pharma in Taikang Life’s traditional account and individual red account is 193 million yuan and 320 million yuan, respectively, accounting for 0.03% of total assets at the end of the previous quarter.
Although targets in the pharmaceutical sector have appeared during this round of insurance capital "buy-in surge," early on, the focus was mainly on dividend attributes.
For example, New China Life Insurance once increased its stake in Sinopharm Group and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, expressing "long-term optimism about future development prospects of the medical and healthcare industry."
Xinfeng has noticed that this year, whether it’s China Pacific Insurance increasing investment in Dongyangguang Pharmaceutical or Taikang Life Insurance increasing its stake in Fosun Pharma, it reflects more recognition of the innovative pharmaceuticals sector's growth potential in the secondary market by insurance funds.
This may be attributed to the strong growth of the innovative pharmaceuticals sector.
Since 2024, innovative drug development has accelerated, with the “Implementation Plan for Supporting Innovative Drug Development Across the Entire Chain” approved in July.
Nearly a year later, the National Medical Products Administration issued the “Announcement on Optimizing Review and Approval Matters for Clinical Trials of Innovative Drugs (Draft for Comment),” supporting clinical value-oriented innovative drug R&D and improving clinical R&D quality and efficiency.
Subsequently, the National Healthcare Security Administration clarified that the commercial health insurance innovative drug list would be formally incorporated into the annual healthcare insurance adjustment policy framework.
A series of policy benefits, combined with many innovative pharmaceutical companies transitioning from R&D investment phase to realization phase, have led to a bullish market for the innovative pharmaceuticals sector:
As of November 26, the Wind Innovative Drug Index had risen 41.51% year-to-date.
Wind data shows that since the beginning of the year, insurance capital has conducted research on A-share innovative drug companies 531 times, with companies such as BeiGene-U, Huadong Medicine, Livzon Group, and Pharmaron being particularly notable, each having been researched more than 25 times.
Fosun Pharma, which was increased by Taikang Life Insurance this time, has risen 191.49% year-to-date.
Half a month ago, the CDE website announced that Fosun Pharma’s PD-1 antibody drug Serplulimab Injection (H drug) was proposed for breakthrough therapy designation for the first time.
Since November, Fosun Pharma has received investments from multiple sources, with Boyu Capital also increasing its holdings of its H shares twice to 7%.
Insurance companies are naturally important payers for innovative drugs; the dual role of “payer + investor” is beneficial for deepening connections with the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries and establishing a closed-loop ecosystem.
Leading life insurance companies that are optimistic about the health and wellness track have long been involved in innovative pharmaceuticals.
China Life Health Investment Company, a subsidiary of China Life, has invested in Innovent Biologics and Xiantong Pharmaceuticals, focusing on the prices of PD-1 and other tumor treatment drugs.
Medical equipment companies such as Opumai, United Imaging Healthcare, and Mindray Medical also have financial support from China Life.
Taikang Life’s parent company, Taikang Group, has also invested in innovative drug ventures through various means:
For example, in 2020, it participated in Zhenhe Technology’s E-round financing of over 1 billion yuan through its investment platform, focusing on precise cancer diagnostics.
Subsequent investments include Weitai Medical, which focuses on blood glucose management, and Deqi Pharmaceuticals, which focuses on innovative tumor drugs, thus laying out the health and wellness sector.
The National Healthcare Security Administration disclosed that the 2025 negotiation and competitive bidding for the National Basic Healthcare Drugs Catalogue and the price negotiation for the commercial insurance innovative drug list have been completed, with a total of 24 drugs participating in the commercial insurance innovative drug list price negotiations.
Once subsequent technical, administrative, and legal procedures are completed, the new National Basic Healthcare Drugs Catalogue and the inaugural edition of the commercial insurance innovative drug list are scheduled to be released in Guangzhou on the first weekend of December, to be implemented starting January 1, 2026.
As future reforms in the innovative drug payment system advance, whether more insurance funds will choose to increase their market investment as financial investors remains to be seen.
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