China's Akeso plunges as drug's clinical trial results seen below expected

** Shares of Chinese biological products developer Akeso Inc 9926 drop as much as 45% to HK$26.45, their lowest since October 2022

** Stock last down 22.1% at HK$37.45, on course for the biggest one-day pct decline since debut in April 2020; top the pct loser on Hang Seng Composite Index (.HSCI)

** Co says China's NMPA has granted marketing approval to the co's "ivonescimab injection", combined with chemotherapy for treatment of metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer

** A biotechnology venture capital fund says the progression-free survival (PFS) of Akeso's anti-tumor drug AK112 (Evoxi) AK112 is non-competitive compared with others

** Akeso says the NMPA's approval of "ivonescimab injection" is based on AK112-301/HARMONi-A Phase III clinical trial with primary endpoint of PFS and secondary endpoint of overall survival in China

** Stock down 19.5% YTD