ShanghaiJune 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting is being held in Chicago from May 29 to June 2 local time. As one of the most influential academic events in the global oncology field, this year’s ASCO once again witnessed the collective rise of China’s innovative drug industry. According to statistics, a total of 94 Chinese studies were selected for oral presentations at ASCO this year, including 12 late-breaking abstracts, marking three consecutive years of growth. At this year’s ASCO conference, Hengrui Oncology secured a leading position among domestic companies with 91 studies selected and 11 innovative drugs presented in oral sessions, showcasing the global competitiveness of China’s pharmaceutical leader.
As a representative of China’s innovative drug companies, Hengrui Medicine continues to deepen its focus on the oncology field, with its R&D achievements once again receiving high recognition. The company has presented major results at ASCO for 16 consecutive years. This year, its research covers multiple key areas, including gastrointestinal tumors, breast cancer, lung cancer, urological tumors, gynecological tumors, and tumor supportive care, involving 11 approved innovative drugs, 10 innovative products in development, and one Class 2 new drug. Behind this lies Hengrui’s solid foundation built on more than 10 advanced technology platforms, including small molecules, ADCs, bispecific/multispecific antibodies, and degraders. This platform-based R&D capability supports sustained and stable innovation output, fully reflecting the depth and breadth of its R&D system.
Breast Cancer: Multiple Regimens Poised to Reshape Clinical Practice
For triple-negative breast cancer, the HELEN-Trio 011 study, led by Professor Liu Zhenzhen from Henan Cancer Hospital, showed that the pathological complete response rate of camrelizumab combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy reached 57.5%, significantly higher than the 45.4% achieved with chemotherapy alone. In the field of neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive early breast cancer, the HELEN HER-013 study confirmed for the first time that the chemotherapy-free regimen of “nab-paclitaxel + trastuzumab + pyrotinib (nab-PHPy)” was non-inferior to the standard TCHP regimen, offering a new option for patients unable to tolerate severe hematologic toxicity.
Gastrointestinal Tumors: Promising ADC and Immunotherapy Combinations
In the field of colorectal cancer, the HORIZON-CRC01 study, led by Professor Li Jin from China Pharmaceutical University’s Shanghai Gaobo Cancer Hospital and Professor Yuan Ying from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, showed that the next-generation anti-HER2 ADC, trastuzumab rezetecan, achieved a median progression-free survival of 5.5 months in patients with HER2-positive, RAS/RAF wild-type advanced colorectal cancer who had progressed after standard second-line therapy, compared to just 2.8 months with traditional chemotherapy. This result has the potential to reshape treatment pathways for this difficult-to-treat population. In the field of liver cancer, the CARES-336 study, co-led by Academician Fan Jia from Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, and Professor Qin Shukui from Zhejiang Qiantang Advanced Research Institute, demonstrated for the first time that the “dual Ai” (camrelizumab + apatinib) combined with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) regimen significantly prolonged median PFS compared to TACE alone (BIRC assessment, per mRECIST criteria: 11.1 months vs. 8.3 months), providing a new strategy for unresectable liver cancer.
Urological Tumors: Dual Breakthroughs in Prostate and Bladder Cancer
The FUZUPRO study, led by Professor Ye Dingwei from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, showed that fuzuloparib combined with abiraterone and prednisone as first-line therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer achieved a median rPFS of 24.8 months, compared to 19.9 months with the standard regimen. Another study showed that the anti-Nectin-4 ADC SHR-A2102 combined with adebrelimab in perioperative treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer achieved a pathological complete response rate of 48.1% and a pathological downstaging rate of 59.3%, also benefiting patients with renal insufficiency.
Supportive Care in Oncology: New Evidence for Antiemetic Drug
The Phase III PROTECT study, led by Professor Zhang Li and Professor Li Yuhong from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, confirmed that Hengrui’s self-developed ultra-long-acting antiemetic drug, fosrolapitant and palonosetron injection, achieved significantly higher complete response rates in the acute, delayed, and overall phases for preventing nausea and vomiting caused by moderately emetogenic chemotherapy compared to the standard regimen, providing a more effective and convenient full-course management option for chemotherapy patients.
Hengrui Oncology has 16 self-developed innovative drugs approved for marketing in China, with nearly 60 independently developed innovative drug candidates in the pipeline. The company is conducting over 150 clinical trials for its major R&D pipelines globally. The continuous increase in the number of studies selected for presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting in recent years is not only a testament to the company’s growing R&D capabilities but also a microcosm of the overall rise of China’s innovative drug industry. At the same time, several other Chinese pharmaceutical companies also contributed significant research at this year’s ASCO. As the industry consensus holds, China is becoming a key player in global oncology drug R&D, and the sustained breakthroughs of local innovative forces are bringing more Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to patients worldwide.