Just last month, the company announced plans to sell its stake in Tianmai Biotech. After years of betting on the oral insulin field without success, China Resources Pharma (03320.HK) is now withdrawing more decisively.

On the evening of March 16, China Resources Pharma issued an announcement stating that its wholly-owned subsidiary, China Resources Pharmaceutical Investment, intends to sell approximately 5.88% of its equity in Hefei Tianmai Biotech Development Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Tianmai Biotech") for 510 million yuan.

Last month, China Resources Pharma also announced that China Resources Pharmaceutical Investment planned to sell a 17.87% stake in Tianmai Biotech for 1.42 billion yuan, though the latest outcome of this sale has not yet been announced.

These two sales are independent and unrelated transactions. If both sales are completed successfully, China Resources Pharma will fully withdraw from Tianmai Biotech.

The partnership between China Resources Pharma and Tianmai Biotech dates back to December 2016, when the two parties announced a deep collaboration in the field of recombinant insulin, marking a significant milestone in China Resources Pharma's strategic development in the biopharmaceutical sector.

Tianmai Biotech's main attraction lies in its focus on oral insulin.

In August 2017, Tianmai Biotech signed an investment agreement and a Greater China technology licensing agreement for oral insulin with Israel's Oramed Pharmaceuticals. In 2019, Tianmai Biotech established the world's first oral insulin production line, and its oral insulin product has since entered Phase III clinical trials in China.

For a long time, insulin has held an irreplaceable position in the pharmacological treatment of diabetes. Early initiation of insulin therapy is crucial for managing the condition of diabetic patients. However, due to the limitations of subcutaneous injection, some patients remain hesitant about using insulin, leading to delays in starting insulin treatment and affecting blood glucose control targets. Improving insulin administration methods and achieving oral delivery has been a challenge scientists have sought to overcome for over a century.

In April 2023, Tianhui Biotech, in which Tianmai Biotech holds a stake, applied in China for the market approval of Recombinant Human Insulin Enteric-Coated Capsules, becoming the first oral insulin product globally to seek regulatory approval for treating type 2 diabetes patients with inadequate response to oral hypoglycemic drugs. This drug also originated from Oramed.

However, on December 29, 2025, information published on the website of China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) regarding the delivery of drug notification documents indicated that Tianhui Biotech's application for Recombinant Human Insulin Enteric-Coated Capsules was listed among them, meaning the drug failed to gain approval.

Nevertheless, Tianhui Biotech has not abandoned the Recombinant Human Insulin Enteric-Coated Capsules and has reapplied for the drug's market approval.

Compared to oral insulin, GLP-1 has become a revolutionary target in the fields of diabetes and weight loss. Pharmaceutical companies are now developing new GLP-1 drugs focusing on oral small molecules, ultra-long-acting formulations to improve patient experience, and multi-target agonists to enhance efficacy.

It is worth noting that China Resources Sanjiu, under China Resources Pharma, also entered the GLP-1 arena in 2015, collaborating with Borui Pharmaceutical on the research, development, registration, production, and commercialization of the dual GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) and GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) receptor agonist injection BGM0504 within mainland China.