Today, WuXi Biologics and WuXi AppTec announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange respectively that co-founder Zhao Ning passed away. WuXi AppTec said in the announcement that co-founder, one of the actual controllers, director and senior vice president Ning Zhao passed away on May 16, 2023, after 20 years of brave fighting cancer. As of press time, two listed companies, WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics, have declined, with a market value of RMB377 billion.
The low-key North University bully
The "fairy couple" of the medical world
Zhao Ning (November 1966-May 16, 2023), female, American nationality, bachelor's degree in chemistry from Peking University, Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University, worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacopeia, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer). Vice President of Human Resources at WuXi AppTec, classmate and wife of Li Ge, founder of WuXi AppTec.
There is very little information about Zhao Ning, and she rarely appeared in public in the media before her death, but in the medical circle, Li Ge, Zhao Ning and his wife, the "fairy couple" and golden partner are still very well-known, people familiar with Zhao Ning said, "Zhao Ning gives people the feeling of gentle, elegant and generous." ”
In the 2023 Hurun Global Rich List, Li Ge and Zhao Ning ranked 314th with a net worth of 52.5 billion yuan, ranking first in the list.
It is worth mentioning that in this year's Hurun Global Rich List, Wen Shang won a total of 27 seats. A total of 6 of them are in the global top 1000. They are Li Ge and Zhao Ning of WuXi AppTec (314th), Xiang Guangda of Tsingshan Holdings (460th), Li Piteng of Feike Electric (733rd), You Xiaoping of Huafon Group (750th), Zhang Qiansheng of ASE Group (899th), Huang Wei and Li Ping of Xinhu Group (994).
In fact, whether in the capital circle or the entrepreneurial circle, the story of Li Ge and Zhao Ning has always been used as an industry model, the two studied in the Department of Chemistry of Peking University, received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Peking University, and were admitted to Columbia University at the same time, and both received doctorates.
In 2000, WuXi AppTec was established in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, and successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, is the head company of domestic pharmaceutical CRO (pharmaceutical contract research organization), this industry benefits from the dividends of the overall innovation and development of medicine, also known as the "water seller" of the pharmaceutical circle, Li Ge and Zhao Ning are obviously the stars in the "water seller".
"Let the world have no difficult medicine and difficult to cure diseases", this is WuXi AppTec's corporate development vision, and it is also the original intention of Li Ge and Zhao Ning to finally return to China to start a business. After delisting from the United States, WuXi AppTec landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2018, and its highest market value once exceeded 400 billion yuan, known as "Yao Mao", and its sister company WuXi Biologics is also a well-known pharmaceutical white horse in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
As one of the co-founders of WuXi AppTec, Ning Zhao has played a key role in the company's development process. She created an integrated analysis platform with world-class quality standards, laying the cornerstone for WuXi AppTec's CRDMO and CTDMO enabling models. Industry insiders commented, "If Li Ge is a pioneer dreamer in China's CRO field, Zhao Ning is the icing on the cake for his dream." ”
In 2011, Ning Zhao took over and was responsible for WuXi AppTec's global human resources. Zhao Ning makes full use of her global vision and experience, familiarity with corporate strategy and successful business operation and management experience, to quickly improve the company's human resource management capabilities and realize the strategic transformation from function-oriented to business-oriented. Under her leadership, the company vigorously promotes the talent strategy, consolidates the construction of corporate culture, and strengthens human resource management in the fields of talent attraction, development, incentive and retention. In just 6 years, WuXi AppTec has rapidly expanded from 5,000 employees to a global enterprise with more than 16,000 employees.
The flow year is unfavorable
CRO is still mired in adjustment
As entrepreneurs, Li Ge and Zhao Ning have achieved great success, but in the capital circle, nothing can be called eternal. In 2020, the global new crown epidemic broke out, and the "pharmaceutical water sellers" with a large number of new crown vaccine orders fell into a carnival, this year WuXi AppTec soared 105%, Hong Kong stock WuXi Biologics soared 212%, and the halo of pharmaceutical stocks in this year is not inferior to the current artificial intelligence and ChatGPT.
However, time has passed, and the "water sellers" who were once full of orders have been sold by investors in large numbers due to problems such as stable epidemics, geopolitical crises, and uncertainties in high performance growth. Today's WuXi AppTec share price is less than 70 yuan, directly missing a single digit from the highest point of 171 yuan in 2021, and WuXi Biologics' share price has also plummeted from the highest HK$148 per share to the lowest HK$35 per share, a decline of 76%.
Investors know that public funds like to "drink and take medicine", and the most ruthless person to buy pharmaceutical stocks in the fund industry should be the "top fund manager" of CEIBS Fund, Gülen, WuXi AppTec is Gülen's second largest heavy stock. As pharmaceutical stocks tumbled, Gülen's fund also lost a lot of money. Statistics show that the top ten fund products with losses in 2022 have losses of about 10 billion, and 7 have losses of more than 10 billion yuan. Among them, the biggest loss was CEIBS Healthcare managed by Gülen, with a loss of 19.264 billion yuan. What is the concept of this money? Evergrande's current total market value is 21.787 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to almost 19.28 billion yuan, and Gülen's loss of money in a year can almost buy the entire Evergrande, which is also the common portrayal of many pharmaceutical stocks, CROs, and CDMO companies.
Not long ago, WuXi AppTec handed over its own quarterly report, and its operating income in the first quarter of 2023 was 8.964 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.77%; The net profit was 2.168 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.97%. According to the quarterly report, WuXi AppTec's net profit increased by more than 30% in the first quarter, but the revenue growth rate fell to single digits, which not only fell sharply month-on-month and year-on-year, but also set the lowest quarterly growth rate since WuXi AppTec's listing. On the same day, WuXi AppTec's share price fell to a limit.
In addition, the continuous reduction of WuXi AppTec's major shareholders has also become the main reason for the continuous decline in the share price of "WuXi AppTec". Prior to the announcement of the first quarterly report, WuXi AppTec announced that shareholders controlled by the actual controller of the company and shareholders who signed a concerted action agreement with the actual controller plan to reduce their holdings of no more than 3% of the company's shares.
Can WuXi Chairman Li Ge get out of the pain of widowhood?
After Zhao Ning's death, many investors expressed their condolences to the deceased at WuXi AppTec Stock Bar, and hoped that Li Ge, the company's chairman, could cheer up and lead WuXi AppTec to regain its glory as a pharmaceutical stock.
One investor said, "Mr. Li Ge and Ms. Zhao Ning are both respected people in the pharmaceutical industry, and their entrepreneurial spirit leads the pharmaceutical people to continue to move forward, and I hope that Mr. Li Ge will not forget the original intention of WuXi's development because of this change." Ms. Zhao Ning once said before her death, "Having dreams, driving force, and love of learning are the temperaments of WuXi AppTec. Zhao Ning said frankly that WuXi AppTec's development from a 4-person and 650-square-meter laboratory in 2000 to today's scale is based on the insistence on the dream - to change the process of new drug research and development, and to "make the world have no difficult drugs and difficult diseases".
WuXi AppTec announced that after the death of Dr. Zhao Ning, the number of current directors of the company was reduced from 13 to 12, which is not lower than the minimum number of directors stipulated in the Company Law of the People's Republic of China, but less than the number stipulated in the articles of association. The Board of Directors of the Company will conduct by-election of directors as soon as possible. At present, the company's production and operation activities remain stable and normal, the board of directors, the board of supervisors and senior management personnel perform their duties normally, and all employees will continue to be diligent and conscientious, committed to the long-term development of the company.
WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics both said in the announcement, "Dr. Zhao's precious spiritual legacy will continue to inspire WuXi AppTec people to move forward with courage and perseverance and realize the great vision of 'making no difficult medicine and incurable disease in the world' as soon as possible." Tribute to Dr. Zhao Ning! ”
(Source: Orange Persimmon Interactive Urban Express)