Shares of UNITED LAB (03933) climbed close to 3%. At the time of writing, the stock was up 2.7%, trading at HK$12.17, with a turnover of HK$54.12 million.

The increase follows an announcement from the company stating that on February 2, 2026, its wholly-owned subsidiary, Federal Biotechnology (Zhuhai Hengqin) Co., Ltd., received implied permission from China's National Medical Products Administration for clinical trials of its self-developed Class 1 innovative drug, UBT251 injection, for the treatment of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) comorbid with obesity.

As China's first chemically synthesized novel drug acting as a GLP-1/GIP/GCG triple-target receptor agonist, UBT251 positions the company significantly within the research domain of such therapeutics.

Moving forward, the company remains committed to the research and development of new products, with a strategic focus on enhancing its competitiveness and innovation capacity in the biopharmaceutical industry, which is anticipated to generate greater returns for the company and its shareholders.