Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | Moderna's Stock Price Soars, Cancer Immunotherapy and mRNA Technology Face Value Reassessment (Including Concept Stocks)

On August 20, Beijing time, the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index surged by 6.39%, marking the largest increase in six years; Moderna skyrocketed by 176.97%, adding $44 billion to its market value; Merck closed up 12.6%, achieving its largest single-day gain since March 2009. According to reports, the company announced that its melanoma skin cancer vaccine achieved its target impact in a large trial in collaboration with Merck. Moderna and Merck announced that their jointly developed melanoma mRNA cancer vaccine met its primary endpoint in a Phase III clinical trial, a milestone event that directly ignited the global pharmaceutical sector. Moderna's breakthrough validates the commercial potential of mRNA technology in cancer treatment, significantly boosting confidence in the entire biopharmaceutical track. The Hong Kong market's innovative drug and CXO sectors may experience an overall beta recovery: SIDM Pharmaceuticals (01244): The company focuses on the treatment of chronic diseases related to tumors and not only possesses an mRNA-LNP tumor vaccine technology platform but has also recently released key clinical results for its innovative immunotherapy drug Envida at the ASCO annual meeting, resonating with the global top-tier tumor immunotherapy sector. SIDM Pharmaceuticals has developed three major technology platforms, including In vivo CAR-T/NK, mRNA-LNP tumor vaccines, and nucleic acid drugs. The universal mRNA-LNP tumor vaccine 3D124 relies on AI-driven antigen screening and self-developed LNP delivery technology, breaking international patent restrictions and significantly improving delivery efficiency, showing significant tumor suppression effects in preclinical studies. This product is planned to complete dual IND submissions in the U.S. and China by 2026; the next-generation RDC nucleic acid drug 3D1015, targeting PSMA, demonstrates clinical potential with equal tumor suppression effect at a 1/4 dosage compared to approved products, with the first IIT administration expected in August 2025. In vivo CAR-T: 3D128 using the CD7-LNP pathway is in the global first-tier position, showing superior transfection efficiency in preclinical studies compared to publicly available literature, with a capacity-enhanced delivery pathway significantly increasing accessibility and high safety of the LNP pathway. WUXI BIO (02269): As one of the leading players in the CXO sector serving the pharmaceutical R&D market, it is also expected to see sentiment recovery with the global pharmaceutical R&D pipelines value reassessment. Recently, WUXI BIO announced that its biopharmaceutical raw material production facility, MFG8, located in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, passed the pre-approval inspection (PLI) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for drug marketing approval, supporting the commercialization production of a drug for autoimmune diseases. Dr. Ming Wang, CEO of WUXI BIO, stated that this FDA PLI approval not only confirms our ongoing investment in building a world-class quality system but also demonstrates our reliable capability to support partners in advancing global commercial production. GENSCRIPT BIO (01548): CICC noted that Genscript's performance exceeded expectations, primarily due to AIDD catalyzing strong growth in life sciences and increased operational efficiency. JPMorgan indicated that GENSCRIPT BIO's performance in the first half of the year surpassed expectations, with management positioning AI-driven drug discovery and development (AIDD) as the key driver for revenue and profit growth, gross margin expansion, and upward guidance. Management believes that AIDD opportunities are structural and sustainable, as clients are moving from proof of concept to repetitive (i.e., large-scale) wet lab validation and model iteration, in which Genscript has the capability to provide related services. On production capacity, management emphasized that modular automation, planned capacity expansion, and ample liquidity are sufficient to support approximately $130 million in capital expenditure plans for 2026. ZAI LAB (09688): According to Pharmaceutical Research Network, on August 17, immunology company argenx announced that its core product, the FcRn antagonist (efgartigimod ), achieved positive top-line results in the Phase III ALKIVIA trial for treating adult autoimmune myositis. Notably, argenx had previously granted ZAI LAB exclusive rights to develop and commercialize efgartigimod in the Greater China region. It is worth noting that the ALKIVIA study itself is a Phase III global study initiated by argenx, and ZAI LAB has also participated in the clinical development and patient enrollment in the Greater China region. If this indication is subsequently approved globally, ZAI LAB is expected to further expand efgartigimod's commercialization footprint in the field of autoimmune diseases in China.