China's pharmaceutical power couple has reached new heights of wealth. On October 28, 2025, the Hurun Research Institute released its annual rich list, revealing that Zhong Huijuan, Chairwoman and CEO of Hansoh Pharmaceutical (3692.HK), along with her daughter Sun Yuan, claimed the title of China's wealthiest women with a combined net worth of 141 billion yuan ($19.7 billion). This marks the first time the 64-year-old pharmaceutical executive has topped the list, surpassing Waha Group's Zong Fuli (87.5 billion yuan).

Zhong's wealth surge stems directly from Hansoh's transformation into an innovative drug powerhouse. Originally a generics manufacturer, the company has pivoted to innovative drugs through a "generic-innovation combination" strategy. In H1 2025, Hansoh reported revenue of 7.43 billion yuan (up 14.27% YoY) and net profit of 3.14 billion yuan (up 15.02% YoY), with innovative drugs contributing 6.15 billion yuan or 82.7% of total revenue. The company's market capitalization stood at HK$209.3 billion as of October 29 closing.

The Zhong family's influence spans China's pharmaceutical sector. While Zhong leads Hansoh (HK's "pharma leader"), her husband Sun Piaoyang chairs Hengrui Medicine (A-share pharma leader). Their daughter Sun Yuan, a Cambridge biomedical graduate, serves as Hansoh executive director with a 2024 salary of 19.04 million yuan - higher than both parents' compensation.

Hansoh's journey began in 1996 when Zhong, then a chemistry teacher, joined Jiangsu Haosen (Hansoh's predecessor). Under her leadership, the company launched breakthrough generics before transitioning to innovative drugs. Key milestones include: - 2017: Launched XINWEI (imatinib mesylate), China's first generic version of leukemia drug Gleevec, priced at 1/10 of originator drug - 2019: HK$116.8 billion IPO, becoming HK's largest pharma stock by market cap - 2024: Innovative drugs accounted for 77% of revenue (9.48 billion yuan) - 2025: Three ADC drug out-licensing deals totaling $4.8 billion with global pharma giants

Despite early criticism as Hengrui's "shadow company," Hansoh has established independent R&D capabilities with 40+ drug candidates in pipeline. Its oncology franchise, led by China's first third-generation EGFR-TKI Ameile (almonertinib), generated 6.1 billion yuan in H1 2025 (61% of revenue).

The company's global ambitions are evident in recent deals: - December 2024: Out-licensed oral GLP-1 agonist HS-10535 to Merck for $2+ billion - June 2025: Licensed GLP-1/GIP dual agonist HS-20094 to Regeneron for $1.93 billion

Analysts highlight Hansoh's strategic shift from generics (down to 2.8 billion yuan in 2024 from 4.3 billion in 2022) to innovative drugs, with R&D investment growing to 2.7 billion yuan in 2024 (22% of revenue). The Zhong family's story mirrors China's pharmaceutical evolution from generics to global innovation - with 141 billion yuan as the latest milestone.