News Summaries

Hengrui Shines at ASCO 2026: Chinese Cancer Drugs Take Center Stage

At this year’s ASCO meeting in Chicago, China’s Hengrui Oncology stood out with 91 oral presentations – the most of any local company – showcasing a wave of new cancer medicines. Highlights included a next‑generation HER2‑targeted antibody‑drug conjugate that more than doubled the time patients with advanced colorectal cancer lived without disease progression (5.5 months vs. 2.8 months on standard chemo). In liver cancer, a combo of the immune drug camrelizumab, the anti‑angiogenic agent apatinib, and TACE therapy pushed median progression‑free survival to 11.1 months, beating TACE alone. For prostate cancer, adding the PARP inhibitor fluzoparib to standard hormone therapy extended median radiographic PFS to nearly 25 months, while a novel anti‑Nectin‑4 ADC paired with immunotherapy achieved a 48 % complete‑response rate in muscle‑invasive bladder cancer. Hengrui also unveiled an ultra‑long‑acting anti‑nausea injection that outperformed existing regimens across all phases of chemotherapy‑induced vomiting. In breast cancer, a chemo‑free trio (nab‑paclitaxel, trastuzumab, pyrotinib) proved as effective as traditional chemotherapy for HER2‑positive patients, and a camrelizumab‑plus‑chemo neoadjuvant approach hit a 57.5 % complete‑response rate in triple‑negative disease. These results underscore China’s growing influence in global oncology research and Hengrui’s expanding pipeline of innovative therapies.

Chinese Cancer Drug Makers Steal the Spotlight at ASCO 2026 – Akeso’s Historic Win and Hengrui’s 91 Study Selections

From May 29 to June 2, the world’s biggest oncology gathering – the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago – turned into a showcase for China’s fast‑growing drug innovators. Companies such as Akeso, Hengrui Medicine, Hanshan Pharmaceutical and Innovent Biologics presented breakthrough data that underscored the country’s rising R&D muscle. Akeso stole the headlines when its first‑in‑class PD‑1/VEGF bispecific antibody ivonescumab, combined with chemotherapy, outperformed the standard tislelizumab regimen in advanced squamous non‑small‑cell lung cancer. The results earned a coveted spot in the ASCO plenary session – the first time a Chinese‑origin drug has ever been featured in the society’s 61‑year history. Earlier, the same drug had bested Keytruda in a head‑to‑head Phase III trial, cementing its status as a potential new cornerstone of cancer therapy. Hengrui Medicine impressed with 91 abstracts selected across the meeting, while Hanshan Pharmaceutical reported promising early‑survival benefits from a neoadjuvant almonertinib‑chemo‑immunotherapy regimen for EGFR‑mutated lung cancer. Innovent Biologics unveiled early proof‑of‑concept data for its PD‑1/IL‑2 bispecific IBI363 combined with chemo, hinting at a way to overcome current immunotherapy limits. Multinational giants also made waves: Pfizer’s 7‑year follow‑up of lorlatinib showed median progression‑free survival still unreached, suggesting a possible decade‑long disease control; Eli Lilly’s LIBRETTO‑432 trial met its primary endpoint, with Chinese sites contributing nearly half of the enrollment; and AstraZeneca presented more than 85 abstracts, including 10 approved drugs. Despite modest stock dips for the Chinese firms, the consensus is clear – China’s innovative drug pipeline is maturing rapidly, and ASCO 2026 highlighted that momentum on the global stage.

Chinese Cancer Drugs Take Center Stage at ASCO 2026, Winning Direct Head‑to‑Head Battles

At this year’s ASCO meeting, Chinese pharmaceutical innovators moved from early‑stage experiments to direct, head‑to‑head Phase III trials against the world’s leading cancer therapies. The shift signals that China’s drug makers are no longer just testing new mechanisms—they’re now challenging the global standard of care. Key highlights include: • Zejing Pharma presented Phase II data on its PD‑1/TIGIT bispecific antibody ZG005 combined with bevacizumab for advanced liver cancer. Although the study involved only 95 patients, it shows promise that will need validation in larger Phase III trials of at least 300 participants. • The OptiTROP‑Lung05 trial demonstrated that a Chinese TROP2‑targeted ADC paired with immunotherapy dramatically outperformed pembrolizumab alone in first‑line non‑small‑cell lung cancer. Median progression‑free survival (PFS) was not reached versus 5.7 months for monotherapy, with a hazard ratio of 0.35, a 65 % reduction in risk of progression or death. One‑year PFS rates were 62.4 % versus 29.0 %, and overall response rates were 70.2 % versus 42 %. • Tongyuankang’s third‑generation EGFR‑TKI ectinib (TY‑9591) faced osimertinib in the ESAONA Phase III study, marking the first global head‑to‑head comparison of a Chinese EGFR drug against the current benchmark. • Akeso’s AK112306 (evonesumab) achieved a median overall survival of 27.9 months in squamous NSCLC, cutting death risk by 34 % compared with tislelizumab plus chemotherapy. These results underscore a new era: Chinese innovators are now competing on hard endpoints like overall survival and PFS, aiming for worldwide first‑line treatment standards while navigating larger trial requirements, regulatory hurdles, and market rollout.