China’s drug innovators are hitting several milestones at once. On Feb. 25‑26 the National Medical Products Administration announced that two home‑grown anti‑IL‑4Rα antibodies – Mandokimab from Akeso Biosciences and SSGJ‑611 from 3SBio – have been accepted for review. Both target moderate‑to‑severe atopic dermatitis, signaling the end of a foreign‑only monopoly on this class of skin‑disease treatments. Meanwhile, AI‑driven biotech firm Insilico Medicine unveiled ISM6166, a potent oral pan‑KRAS inhibitor designed with its Chemistry42 platform. The pre‑clinical candidate aims to tackle a broad range of solid tumours, including lung, pancreatic, colorectal and gastric cancers. In the earnings arena, BeiGene posted a breakout year. Fourth‑quarter 2025 revenue hit $1.5 billion, up 33 % year‑on‑year, and the company swung to an annual profit of $918 million after a loss the prior year. Its flagship drug Zanubrutinib generated $1.1 billion in Q4 sales, while Tislelizumab added $182 million. The Hong Kong Stock Connect innovative‑drugs ETF slipped about 1 % on Feb. 27 but attracted a fresh 85 million‑yuan inflow, pushing its total assets past 23.9 billion yuan. With the ASCO GU conference looming and China’s overseas licensing deals topping $53 billion in the first half of 2026, the sector’s momentum looks set to keep accelerating.
Read moreResearchers led by Academician Xu Ruihua have unveiled a three‑tier framework that could reshape how doctors use immunotherapy for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The model groups patients into three categories based on tumor biology and immune environment, guiding clinicians on when to use single‑agent checkpoint inhibitors, combination therapies, or more experimental approaches. One of the highlighted targets is CDH17, a protein found on many GI tumors that may serve as a new entry point for antibody‑based treatments. At the same time, a multicenter study tested the pairing of anlotinib, a multi‑kinase inhibitor, with the PD‑1 blocker nivolumab in patients with advanced upper GI cancers who had already tried standard chemotherapy. The combination showed encouraging response rates and manageable side effects, suggesting a viable second‑line option. Highlights from the recent CSCO and ESMO meetings underscored rapid progress: Chinese teams presented six of the sixteen late‑breaking abstracts on GI tumors, featuring novel antibody‑drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, and immunotherapy combos across gastric, colorectal, esophageal, and liver‑pancreatic cancers. Together, these advances point toward a future where GI cancers are not just treated, but strategically controlled.
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