Hengrui Medicine gains approval for three clinical trials

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (SSE:600276) announced that its subsidiaries have secured approval from the National Medical Products Administration to conduct clinical trials for SHR-4849 injection, SHR-8068 injection, and Aderbelimab injection. SHR-4849, an anti-DLL3 antibody-drug conjugate, is intended for solid tumors and has incurred approximately CNY 44.76 million in R&D costs to date. SHR-8068, an anti-CTLA-4 antibody, with an existing global market dominated by Opdivo and Yervoy (combined sales of around USD 24.79 billion in 2023), has cost around CNY 181.58 million to develop. Aderbelimab injection (trade name AiRuiLi), an anti-PD-L1 antibody already approved for small cell lung cancer, with rival products Tecentriq, Bavencio and Durvalumab generating roughly USD 89.85 billion in 2023 global sales, has a cumulative R&D expenditure of CNY 805.09 million. While these approvals are a positive step, the company cautioned that the drugs still require successful completion of clinical trials and regulatory approval before commercialization.