Key Takeaways:
- Citi lifts Keymed target to HK$97.5 from HK$85, keeps Buy rating
- Stapokibart first-half sales jump 132 percent to RMB393 million
- Management raises FY2026 sales guidance to RMB850 million
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Citi lifts Keymed target to HK$97.5 as stapokibart sales surge
Citi lifted its price target on Keymed Biosciences (02162.HK) to HK$97.5 from HK$85, keeping a Buy/High Risk rating as sales of its eczema drug nearly doubled in the first half.
"The market potential of stapokibart, CMG901 and CM512 has yet to be fully reflected in the share price," Citi analysts said in a report dated Aug. 21.
Keymed reported first-half revenue of RMB617 million, up 24 percent from a year earlier, with sales of stapokibart, sold under the brand Kangyueda, climbing 132 percent to RMB393 million. Management raised its full-year 2026 stapokibart sales guidance to RMB850 million from RMB750 million and reiterated a peak sales target of more than RMB5 billion.
The stock rose 3 percent on the day to about HK$77.7, implying roughly 25 percent upside to Citi's new target. Daiwa also raised its target to HK$110 with a Buy rating, a more bullish call on the same pipeline.
The guidance raise shows management expects the drug, now covered by China's national medical insurance and added to the essential medicines list in July, to push into county-level and primary-care hospitals. Keymed's commercial team of nearly 500 staff covers more than 1,600 hospitals and 260 cities, supporting the rollout. Stapokibart, approved for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, is also being studied in adolescents and for prurigo nodularis, with marketing applications accepted by China's drug regulator in early 2026.
Keymed swung to a first-half profit of RMB1.22 billion, helped by the US$257 million upfront payment from Gilead's acquisition of Ouro Medicines, its partner on the CM336 bispecific antibody. Collaboration revenue of RMB224 million in the period came mainly from a milestone payment under its AstraZeneca license for CMG901, a Claudin 18.2 antibody-drug conjugate.
Investors will watch the Phase III readout for CM512, a next-generation TSLP/IL-13 bispecific antibody, and the global gastric cancer trial for CMG901 as the next catalysts. Keymed ended June with cash of about RMB3.24 billion to fund the pipeline.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
