Not Chasing Trends, Only Solving Real Problems: Yang Minmin and Pharmablock’s 18-Year Journey

Old Dreams | Author In the first half of 2026, while most CXO companies had only just emerged from an industry downturn—barely returning to positive growth—Pharmablock delivered a stellar performance: revenue increased by 15.19% year-on-year, and net profit surged by 37.17%. During the same period, China’s innovative drug licensing-out deals reached 81 transactions, totaling approximately USD 11 billion—already exceeding half the number and nearly 90% of last year’s full-year total (150 deals, over USD 13 billion). More projects. Earlier overseas expansion. Faster timelines. Why—and how—can small-molecule CXOs not only survive, but thrive? Dr. Yang Minmin, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Pharmablock, offers a refreshingly straightforward answer: “A company shouldn’t ask only whether a given sector is ‘hot.’ It must also ask: once we enter it, can we solve one more problem for the industry?” This simple statement encapsulates Pharmablock’s unwavering strategic path over its 18-year history. zhihu.com/video/2083353... -01- Small Molecules Are Not Exiting the Stage—The Industry Has Entered the Era of “Speed and Delivery” Over recent years, novel modalities—including peptides, oligonucleotides, and ADCs—have heated up, shifting market attention accordingly. Yet pipeline data tell a different story: according to IQVIA, small-molecule projects accounted for 62% of global Phase I clinical trial initiations in 2025—a rebound confirming their continued centrality in exploring new targets, novel mechanisms, and complex diseases. In 2025 alone, China approved 76 innovative drugs. Global pharmaceutical demand for small molecules has not been squeezed by the rise of biologics; rather, the industry itself has entered a new phase—one that places unprecedented emphasis on speed and delivery capability. With more projects launching and earlier internationalization, pharma companies are now forced to elevate end-to-end efficiency—from project inception to commercialization—to unprecedented heights. Returning to the CDMO segment: after capitalizing on the “engineer dividend” and enduring the wild, capacity-driven growth phase, small-molecule contract manufacturers are now seeking new operational paradigms aligned with this efficiency-first era. As one of the original “Seven Gentlemen of A-Share CXOs,” Pharmablock responded to the dual upheavals in innovative drug development and the CXO landscape by adapting—not chasing trends, but solving real problems. Can a molecule rapidly access suitable chemical space? When roadblocks arise during development, can the partner propose novel solutions? Can a project advance smoothly—without detours—against stringent global R&D and supply-chain requirements? Pharmablock’s strategy over recent years has been precisely this: systematically tackling clients’ granular yet critical challenges through integrated applications of cutting-edge technologies and innovative service models. -02- Starting from a Single “Brick” Back when large molecules were still relatively uncommon, China’s innovative drug sector went through a transitional phase: optimizing “good molecules” discovered overseas to circumvent patents and develop me-too or me-better drugs. Though this phase sustained domestic innovation for a time, it left the industry short on foundational experience and ecosystem support for *de novo* molecular design—i.e., starting from scratch. Today, both pharma companies and CXOs can efficiently synthesize molecules once a clear direction is given; what remains scarce is the ability to identify truly promising *new drug candidates* at the structural origin. For medicinal chemists, the vitality of small molecules lies precisely in their plasticity: even a minor structural modification may yield entirely new biological activity, selectivity, or drug-like properties.

WuXi AppTec’s Orders Hit Record High: Is It Set to Dominate All Future CGT Therapies and Small-Molecule Drugs in China?

Currently, the global cell and gene therapy (CGT) CDMO industry is highly concentrated. Zhongtai Securities estimates that the top four players collectively hold nearly 60% market share. WuXi Biologics ranks fourth globally; its estimated CTDMO revenue in 2020 stood at RMB 1 billion, commanding a 6.8% market share. The top three—Lonza, Catalent, and Thermo Fisher Scientific—held respective market shares of 21.6%, 18.2%, and 12.9%. In 2020, the company provided CDMO services for 38 clinical-stage cell and gene therapy projects (+22.6% year-on-year), including 24 Phase I trials and 14 Phase II/III trials. It expects 2–3 projects—including autologous and allogeneic cell therapies—to enter the Biologics License Application (BLA) stage in 2021, potentially generating meaningful incremental revenue. 03 The Future of Small Molecules: Cutting-Edge Investment in the PROTAC Platform The declining presence of small-molecule drugs on the Global Top 10 Drug Sales List has sparked market speculation about the growth trajectory of WuXi AppTec’s CRDMO platform. Protein degradation technology—freeing drug discovery from target limitations and overcoming traditional small-molecule resistance—has been widely hailed as the “future” of small-molecule therapeutics. Globally, 19 PROTAC drugs are currently in clinical development or have filed for clinical trials, with the majority still in early-phase trials. (Data source: Huachuang Securities) By metrics such as timing of platform establishment, number and advancement of clinical pipelines, Arvinas, Nurix, Kymera, and C4 Therapeutics stand out as today’s hottest newcomers. Publicly available information confirms that Arvinas and Kymera are WuXi AppTec partners. Moreover, some reports indicate that roughly half of all PROTAC molecules currently in clinical development globally involve collaboration with WuXi AppTec. Though PROTAC technology is red-hot, it’s worth noting that less than three years have passed since the first PROTAC candidate entered clinical trials globally—the ARV-110 program by Arvinas, which initiated in March 2019. As early as 2014, WuXi AppTec established a world-leading PROTAC drug discovery and testing platform, empowering numerous global “long-tail” biotech clients. In 2019, revenue from biotech clients using WuXi’s PROTAC platform reached RMB 474 million, representing ~90% year-on-year growth. WuXi AppTec has developed a comprehensive PROTAC molecule construction system tailored for proteins and other large biomolecules. Furthermore, it possesses China’s most extensive screening toolkit for selecting and optimizing both target protein ligands and E3 ubiquitin ligase ligands—including DNA-encoded library (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), structure-based drug design (SBDD), and computer-aided drug design (CADD). In addition, WuXi’s Chemistry Service Division maintains a complete toolbox molecule library dedicated to PROTAC synthesis, while Huicheng Bio provides technical support for PROTAC development. According to company insiders, WuXi’s first batch of PROTAC candidate molecules was generated in just three to four weeks. Its capabilities are indisputable. The PROTAC platform is likewise poised to become one of the flagship offerings of WuXi’s DDSU (Drug Discovery and Development Solutions Unit) division. The company’s 2021 preliminary report noted: “Changes in the domestic market environment—such as declining demand for fast-follow development—have shifted some clients’ focus toward best-in-class and first-in-class candidates, as well as more frontier areas like PROTACs and peptides.”

No, Drug Outsourcing Firms Haven’t Abandoned the Small Molecule

2 days ago

Executives at CPHI reaffirmed that small molecule chemistry remains core for drug outsourcing firms, despite heavy investments in biologics by companies like Lonza and Samsung Biologics. Traditional chemistry continues to drive the sector alongside emerging therapeutic modalities.

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2026-11-10

No, Drug Outsourcing Firms Haven’t Abandoned the Small Molecule

No, Drug Outsourcing Firms Haven’t Abandoned the Small Molecule

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