HK Stock Market Move | Innovative drug stocks extend gains; multiple key data sets to be released at ESMO; platform-based BD deals continue to land, conveying confidence.

Innovative drug stocks extended their gains. As of press time, ZAI LAB (09688) rose 6.26% to HK$20.04; EVEREST MED (01952) rose 5.62% to HK$35.7; DUALITYBIO-B (09606) rose 5.28% to HK$177.50; AKESO (09926) rose 3.94% to HK$95. On the news front, the 2026 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Congress will be held in Madrid from October 23-27. A total of 29 domestic innovative drug studies have been selected as Late-Breaking Abstracts (LBA) at this year's congress, accounting for about one-third of all LBAs, with 5 entering the Presidential Symposium, covering frontier fields such as ADCs, bispecific antibodies, and targeted drugs. Multiple Hong Kong-listed innovative drug companies will disclose key Phase III clinical data. In addition, platform-based BD deals have continued to land recently, further conveying confidence. On October 19, HANSOH PHARMA announced another strategic collaboration with Roche on multiple ADC projects, with an upfront payment and first-anniversary payment totaling US$510 million and potential milestone payments exceeding US$15 billion; on the same day, Jitai Technology announced a collaboration with Eli Lilly on an AI-driven extrahepatic LNP delivery platform, with an upfront payment of more than US$10 million and a total value of up to US$1.1 billion. Sinolink believes that the turning point for innovative drug companies to turn profitable has arrived, with dense clinical data catalysts throughout the year, coupled with smooth overseas clinical progress of pipelines already out-licensed through BD, and is optimistic about investment opportunities in the innovative drug sector.