China's Akeso hits near 3-year peak on Summit Therapeutics therapy success in study

Summit Therapeutics

31/05/2024 03:38

** Shares of Chinese biological products developer Akeso Inc
 9926.HK  soar as much as 87.5% to HK$60, their highest since
July 2021, and on course for a second session of gain
    ** Stock last up 33.9%, on track for biggest daily pct gain
since debut in April 2020; top pct gainer on the Hang Seng
Composite Index  .HSCI  and on the Hong Kong bourse
    ** Summit Therapeutics  SMMT.O  said its experimental
therapy to treat patients with a type of lung cancer met the
main goal of a late-stage study, which was sponsored by Akeso
and conducted in China
    ** Summit said its therapy showed statistically significant
improvement compared to Merck's  MRK.N  Keytruda in a
head-to-head setting 
    ** Added the study showed the therapy, ivonescimab, had
clinically meaningful improvement in the main goal of PFS
(progression-free-survival)
    ** The Hang Seng Composite Index surges 1.7%, healthcare
index  .HSCIH  jumps 2.6% and the Hang Seng Index  .HSI  rises
1.6%
    ** Akeso stock down 8.5% YTD  

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com))