LEE'S PHARM (HKEX: 00950) shares surged more than 7%, trading at HK$1.18 as of press time, representing a 7.27% gain with a turnover of HK$2.0132 million.

On the news front, the company recently announced that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ZK2401 in China has been accepted for review by the Center for Drug Evaluation of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). ZK2401 is a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) project independently developed by LEE'S PHARM, which holds the full global intellectual property rights for the molecule.

ZK2401 is built on the company's self-developed anti-PD-L1 antibody, Socazolimab, and is conjugated with a novel topoisomerase I inhibitor payload. As the first project under LEE'S PHARM's ADC platform, it marks a significant starting point for advancing this platform.

The board believes that submitting this IND application represents a key milestone for the group's oncology innovation pipeline. The project underscores LEE'S PHARM's sustained independent R&D capabilities in fully developing innovative biologics and ADC assets, aligning with its strategic focus on differentiated products based on proprietary technology, substantial clinical potential, and defensible competitive advantages.

To date, Socazolimab has been approved for marketing by China's NMPA for two indications: first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) in combination with chemotherapy, and treatment of recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer.