Akeso drug shows survival benefit in lung cancer trial

Chinese biotech Akeso announced that its cancer treatment ivonescimab improved overall survival compared with pembrolizumab in an interim analysis of a Phase III lung cancer trial.

The result was statistically significant and clinically meaningful, meeting a key secondary endpoint of the clinical study, according to an independent data monitoring committee.

The trial compares ivonescimab, a bispecific antibody targeting PD-1 and VEGF, with pembrolizumab as a first-line treatment.

Akeso has not yet released the median overall survival, hazard ratio or other figures from the latest analysis. The detailed results will be presented at an international medical conference and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, the company said.

Ivonescimab was approved in China in 2025, offering eligible lung cancer patients a chemotherapy-free first-line treatment option.

Yu Guo contributed to this story.