Akeso Biotech (09926) opened more than 8% higher, reaching 8.37% at HK$99.7 as of press time, with a turnover of HK$56.2558 million.

On the news front, Akeso Biotech's overseas partner Summit Therapeutics announced that AstraZeneca will make a US$2 billion strategic equity investment in Summit and intends to lead the advancement of clinical research on Akeso's globally first-in-class oncology immunotherapy 2.0 cornerstone drug ivonescimab combined with AstraZeneca's Sonesitatug Vedotin (Sone-Ve, CLDN18.2 ADC) for the treatment of multiple gastrointestinal tumors; the two parties also signed a memorandum of understanding to further advance clinical exploration of combination therapies involving ivonescimab and a series of AstraZeneca's ADC drugs and other anti-tumor drugs.

It is reported that AstraZeneca will subscribe to Summit preferred shares at a price equivalent to US$18.36 per common share, representing an 18.6% premium over Summit's Monday closing price of US$15.48.

The core asset of this transaction is ivonescimab, developed by Akeso Biotech and licensed to Summit in 2022 for a potential total deal value of up to US$5 billion — the world's first PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody.

Market analysts believe that AstraZeneca's entry comes at a time when ivonescimab has just released key overall survival (OS) data and once again defeated Merck's "K drug" in a head-to-head trial, carrying significant market signaling implications.