Chinese biopharmaceutical company Akeso announced on Wednesday, August 27, 2026, that its immunotherapy drug ivonescimab outperformed AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) in a head-to-head phase-three clinical trial targeting advanced biliary tract cancer. The trial involved 682 patients and compared ivonescimab plus chemotherapy against Imfinzi plus chemotherapy.
According to a filing by Akeso on the Hong Kong stock exchange, patients treated with ivonescimab lived longer than those receiving AstraZeneca’s treatment. Biliary tract cancer is a particularly aggressive cancer with a five-year survival rate of less than 5%, as noted in a study published by Nature.
Xia Yu, Akeso’s founder, chairwoman, and CEO, described the study as the first positive phase-three trial for ivonescimab in gastrointestinal tumors, suggesting potential for the drug’s application across a broader range of solid tumors. The company has yet to release detailed survival statistics but plans to present the full data at an upcoming conference.
Ivonescimab has already been licensed by the US-based Summit Therapeutics in a multibillion-dollar agreement, highlighting the growing global competitiveness of China’s biopharmaceutical sector.
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