Focus on the anti-cancer drug pipeline plus Coxix-B (01167) to sell non-core projects

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 16, Gacos Pharmaceutical (01167) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Beijing Gacos New Drug Research & Development Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Gacos”) signed a capital increase and equity transfer agreement with Shanxi Haisong Management Consulting Partnership (Limited Partnership) (“Haisong Capital”) and an industry partner. According to the agreement, Haisong Capital will acquire 80% of the shares in Beijing Gakerikang Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (“Gac Recon”), a subsidiary of Beijing Gacos, for RMB 200 million. After the transaction is completed, Beijing Gacos, Haisong Capital and industrial partners will hold 10%, 80%, and 10% of Gakrikon's shares, respectively.

Gacoricom is the project company for Gacos's early cardiovascular R&D project. This transaction reflects Gacos' long-term strategic direction of focusing on innovative oncology drug pipelines, helping to optimize resource allocation, improve organizational efficiency, and preserve the future value of the project through a risk-sharing model.

From the perspective of the R&D pipeline, Gacos's layout focuses on the two major directions of Kras and iADC. Among them, KRAS is considered a “core mutation pathway” in the field of cancer, and about a quarter of cancer patients have related mutations.

In May of this year, the company's KRAS G12C inhibitor glecirasib (glecirasib) was approved by the State Drug Administration for second-line treatment of KRAS G12C mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and was successfully marketed in China. Last year, China's equity was authorized to allocate 900 million yuan and a certain percentage of sales to Alice. On top of receiving a down payment of 200 million yuan last year, this year it triggered partner Alice to pay a milestone payment of RMB 50 million. This marks a key breakthrough in commercialization for Gacos. Furthermore, Golerese is conducting a registered combination trial with the SHP2 inhibitor JAB-3312 to treat first-line non-small cell lung cancer with KRAS G12C mutations by using a combination of oral small molecule drugs.

At the same time, the company's other core product, JAB-23E73, has observed multiple confirmed cases of partial remission (PR) in phase 1 clinical trials conducted in China and the US. The safety and pharmacokinetic characteristics are in line with expectations. According to the plan, the product will release full data in the first half of 2026. If subsequent development is successful, this variety is expected to become the first Pan-KRAS inhibitor product in the world to enter advanced clinical trials. Although American Rev.Med's Pan-Ras inhibitors (different from Pan-kras inhibitors) have already been clinically tested in phase III, the mechanism of action between the two is very different, and their clinical and commercial prospects have attracted much attention.

In addition to the KRAS G12c and PAN-KRAS, Gacos is promoting the second-generation EGFR-KRAS G12D tADC. The project achieved accurate delivery through EGFR antibodies, and KRAS G12D inhibitors were used as efficient payloads or became a major single product in the field of colorectal cancer. The company expects to submit an IND application in the second half of 2026. In the future, Gacos is expected to solve different indications such as bowel cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer through different warheads and different KRAS payloads.

Market sources pointed out that Gacos' pipeline value and long-term growth space are not fully reflected in current stock prices. The market value of the rival company Revolution Medicine (RVMD.US) is about 9 billion US dollars, and Gacos is less than 7 billion Hong Kong dollars. The chairman and co-actors increased their holdings by nearly HK$100 million this year. The company is promoting repurchases. The above actions all send a clear signal to the market: management is confident in the company's long-term development.

In the process of continuous verification of clinical data and the gradual entry of the core pipeline into later stages of development, Gacos is expected to gradually be re-evaluated by the market with a two-wheel drive that “increases executive holdings+releases pipeline value”.

The transaction divested the non-tumor pipeline and is in line with Gacos' strategic layout focusing on the core pipeline of innovative oncology drugs (including KRAS, MYC, P53, and tumor immunity). It helps optimize resource allocation, improve organizational efficiency, and preserve the future value of the project through a risk-sharing model.