HK Stock Market Move | Innovative drug concept stocks extend gains; Bank of America says three recent major collaborations strengthen sector momentum, ESMO expected to bring catalysts.

Innovative drug concept stocks extend gains. As of press time, CANSINOBIO (06185) rose 12.75% to HK$40.14; ASCLETIS-B (01672) rose 9.39% to HK$8.915; SBP GROUP (01177) rose 4.77% to HK$5.815; AKESO (09926) rose 3.87% to HK$110.1. On the news front, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals recently licensed its GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist HRS-1596 to Novo Nordisk for consideration, with a potential total transaction value of up to US$2.6 billion; AstraZeneca will make a US$2 billion strategic equity investment in AKESO's overseas partner Summit; SBP GROUP entered into a biosimilar strategic collaboration with STADA, granting STADA exclusive commercialization rights to the pembrolizumab biosimilar TQB3570 in the EU, Switzerland, the UK, and CIS markets. BofA Securities released a research report stating that China Meheco Group/biotech's three recent collaborations strengthen sector momentum. Bohai Securities stated that AI drug discovery has seen catalysts recently, with the industry focus gradually shifting from model capabilities to wet-lab validation efficiency and other aspects. It recommends paying attention to investment opportunities in AI drug discovery-related sub-sectors such as gene synthesis, protein expression, reagents and consumables, animal models, and clinical trials. At the same time, the 2026 ESMO Annual Meeting is about to be held, and excellent clinical data are expected to be read out, bringing catalysts to the sector. It recommends focusing on investment opportunities in innovative drugs, CXO, and the upstream life sciences industry chain.