①Since the beginning of the year, Summit Pharmaceuticals has risen from less than $3 to nearly $32; ②Summit Pharmaceuticals' PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody new drug Ivosidenib, has surpassed the globally recognized drug king, Pembrolizumab, in a head-to-head clinical trial with China's biopharmaceutical company Akeso; ③Regarding geopolitical risks, Summit Pharmaceuticals emphasizes "we stand on the right side".
In the US stock market last week, a stock named $Summit Therapeutics (SMMT.US)$ has emerged unexpectedly, skyrocketing 160% and also lifting biotechnology companies such as BioNTech and Instil Bio.
Since the beginning of the year, Summit Pharmaceuticals has surged from less than $3 to a staggering $31.93 at the week's close, representing an astonishing 1123.37% increase, with a market cap of $23.1 billion. Behind this, in addition to the usual bullish news on new drug development, there is also a story of excellent Sino-US cooperation.
The background of the surge
According to the reports of the past week, the latest surge in opportunities comes from the World Lung Cancer Congress (WCLC) held last weekend. The clinical research published at the conference in China showed that the global first-in-class PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody developed in collaboration between Summit Therapeutics and Akeso, called Yervoy, won the treatment control for non-small cell lung cancer against Merck's "global drug king" Keytruda (Pembrolizumab), also known as the "K drug" in the industry.
Compared to Keytruda, Yervoy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by a whopping 49%.
The exciting point for Wall Street is that this number represents a huge business opportunity. In addition to lung cancer, Keytruda is approved for more than a dozen other cancers. According to statistics, Keytruda's global sales in 2023 reached $25.011 billion, surpassing Semaglutide and positioning itself as the "global drug king".
The achievement of Yervoy not only signifies the huge potential of this drug, but also opens up the market's imagination for PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibodies - how much is a company worth when it has a new drug with annual sales of billions of dollars?
The management of Summit Therapeutics revealed that it is currently conducting over 20 clinical trials in collaboration with Chinese partners.
On Thursday, Summit Therapeutics announced the completion of a new round of $0.235 billion financing - selling 10.3 million shares of stocks at a price of $22.70 per share to "leading biotechnology institutions and individual qualified investors". The management team and members of the board of directors purchased 3.48 million shares. This news has driven another round of increases.
Good news for Sino-U.S. medical cooperation.
It is worth mentioning that in this collaboration, the breakthroughs in medical progress were actually achieved by Chinese companies. Akeso licensed part of the overseas rights of Yervoy to Summit Therapeutics at the end of 2022, obtaining a sales royalty cooperation plan of over $5 billion, setting a record for Chinese pharmaceutical companies in overseas cooperation at that time.
By the way, this week's 37% increase in biontech, the source of market speculation, is also the company's overseas license for China's pharmaceutical company Pumi's biotechnology PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody PM8002.
In this context, Summit Pharmaceuticals' management publicly defended and praised the benefits of Sino-US medical collaboration for global patients this week.
Chairman and Co-CEO Bob Duggan expressed excitement at the opportunity to work with Chinese companies. The management has had many years of dealings with China and knows the Chinese people well.
Regarding the 'Biosecurity Act' passed by the US House of Representatives this week (it is currently unclear whether it will be approved by the Senate), Duggan responded that from the perspective of cooperation between the two sides, Summit Pharmaceuticals imports products from China, then uses the company's production capacity and licenses to manufacture these products in the US and sell them there. This excellent opportunity for cooperation with China will bring significant revenue and job creation to the company, and the American people will also have access to what the company believes is the best drug for future treatments of non-small cell lung cancer and several other cancers.
Duggan emphasized, "We are on the right side, and we believe that the law will ultimately move in this direction."
Editor/Lambor