Lilly's Strategic Pivot on Bimagrumab Trial Ignites Surge in Chinese Biotech Laekna's Stock

As early as June this year, Eli Lilly had already changed the status of the study on the ClinicalTrials website from "not yet recruiting" to "ongoing, not recruiting."

Until the clinical trial was terminated, not a single patient had been truly enrolled.

Therefore, it can be basically confirmed that the termination was indeed not caused by any safety signals. Eli Lilly stated, “Strategic Business Reasons"，is an acceptable explanation.

For a target in the metabolic field that has not yet been developed into a drug, the absence of safety issues despite the advancement of multiple clinical trials is good news.

Currently, according toInformation from the ClinicalTrials website shows,Bimagrumab still has three clinical trials ongoing, including oneBimagrumab and Tirzepatide Alone or in Combination for the Treatment of Obesity or Overweight in Non-Diabetic Patients.

This also shows that for “Bimagrumab + Tirzepatide"This combination, Eli Lilly still has high expectations for."

Eli Lilly Pushes HardThe development of Bimagrumab is rooted in the growing advocacy in recent years within the weight management field for the new concept of "weight loss without fat loss."

As a novel fully human monoclonal antibody drug targeting Activin type II receptor (ActRII), Bimagrumab works byBlock multiple ligand-receptor bindings, relieve the inhibition on muscle protein synthesis/muscle fiber hypertrophy, and promote muscle mass increase.

In June 2025, at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) annual meeting, Eli Lilly and Company presented the latest clinical data on Bimagrumab in combination with Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Semaglutide (Wegovy) for the first time.

The trial results showed that at 72 weeks of treatment, the Bimagrumab group had a weight loss of 10.8%, with 100% coming from fat and a 2.5% increase in muscle; the Semaglutide group had a weight loss of 15.7%, with only 71.5% coming from fat and a 7.4% loss of muscle; the combination therapy group had a weight loss of 22.1%, with 92.9% coming from fat and only a 2.9% loss of muscle.

In other words, inUnder the "assistance" of Bimagrumab, the combination therapy not only significantly enhances weight loss effects but also markedly reduces muscle loss.

AboveBimagrumabAfter the clinical trial for obese or overweight diabetes patients was terminated, Eli LillyThe share price of the company itself was not significantly affected, but it directly triggered a surge in the stock price of a Chinese Biotech firm.

On September 27, 2025, after the news of Eli Lilly and Company terminating its clinical trial was released, the stock price of Laikang Medicine, a Biotech company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, surged by 16.07%.

The reason is that Laekai Pharmaceuticals' research pipeline LAE102 is from Eli Lilly and Company.A "hidden chess piece" in the ActRII target direction.

LAE102 is a monoclonal antibody independently developed by Laekang Medicine that targets activin receptor type IIA (ActRIIA). It is also one of the few pipelines targeting ActRII that have entered clinical trials globally, alongside Eli Lilly and Company’s Bimagrumab.

In November last year, Laekang Pharmaceutical signed a clinical cooperation agreement with Eli Lilly and Company. Eli Lilly will be responsible for conducting a Phase I clinical trial of LAE102 in the United States and bear the related costs, while Laekang Pharmaceutical retains the global rights to LAE102.

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