China Medical System Holdings posted a net profit of RMB 971.5 million for the six months ended Jun 30, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, as stronger sales of innovative and exclusive medicines more than offset the lingering impact of China’s volume-based procurement programme.

Basic earnings per share increased 4.7 percent to RMB 0.4075. The board declared an interim cash dividend of RMB 0.1634 per share (HKD 0.189; SGD 0.031), 5.1 percent higher than a year earlier, with record date set for Sept 1 and payment slated for Sept 8.

Turnover advanced 12.5 percent to RMB 4.50 billion, supported by a 19.7 percent jump in revenue from innovative and exclusive products to RMB 1.70 billion, which contributed 37.7 percent of group sales. Gross profit increased 11.4 percent to RMB 3.22 billion, while the margin eased to 71.6 percent from 72.3 percent owing to a shift in the product mix and lower prices for certain drugs.

By segment, the Integrated Pharmaceuticals business generated RMB 3.71 billion in sales and RMB 914 million in profit for the period. The Skin Health unit, earmarked for a potential spin-off and Hong Kong listing, lifted revenue 59.1 percent to RMB 792.5 million and delivered RMB 57.5 million in profit.

Sales of cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic and CNS products slipped 3.4 percent to RMB 1.49 billion as legacy items exposed to national tendering pressure stabilised. Gastroenterology and autoimmune therapies rose 5.1 percent to RMB 1.48 billion, while ophthalmology products nearly doubled to RMB 704.7 million on a direct-sales basis. Skin health prescription and dermatology-grade skincare products continued to gain traction across hospital and retail channels.

Research and development outlays surged 92.9 percent to RMB 824.7 million, equivalent to 18.3 percent of revenue, as the company advanced a pipeline of more than 40 innovative assets and secured three product approvals during the half.

Strategic initiatives in the period included: • Launch of three new innovative medicines in China—Silevimig Injection, Desidustat Tablets and Lumirix (ruxolitinib cream). • Five NDAs under review, headlined by Loberamisal for Injection and Comekibart Injection. • Acquisition of China rights to innovative intravenous iron therapy Monofer. • Expansion of international commercial platform Rxilient, which now markets nine products across Southeast Asia. • Progress toward a planned spin-off and separate Hong Kong listing of the Dermavon skin-health business. • Commitment to introduce at least three new commercialisable innovative or exclusive products annually over the next three years.

Looking ahead, CMS said it will maintain a “dual-track” R&D strategy combining in-house discovery with external collaborations, deepen its specialty focus areas and pursue “AI-native” operations to enhance execution efficiency. Management expects the industrial internationalisation arm centred in Singapore to become an increasingly important earnings contributor as product registrations and manufacturing scale up across the Asia-Pacific region.