Shanghai, China, May 26, 2025 - Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for HLX22, the company's innovative anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody (mAb) for the treatment of gastric cancer. At present, HLX22 is the world's first anti-HER2-targeted therapy to receive ODD approvals from both the FDA and the EC, suggesting its significant therapeutic potential in the treatment of gastric cancer. The Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for HLX22-GC-301, a phase 3 clinical study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HLX22 in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic GC/GEJC has obtained investigational new drug (IND) approvals in China, the U.S, Japan, Australia, Korea and EU Germany, etc., and has completed its first patient dosing in China, Japan, and Australia.
This ODD granted by EC follows the positive opinion from the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). According to the EC, orphan medicinal products are intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or very serious conditions that affect no more than 5 in 10,000 people in the EU. The EU Regulation on orphan medicinal products establishes a centralised procedure for the designation of orphan medicinal products and puts in place incentives for their research, development and marketing, certain policy support, including but not limited to 1) protocol assistance for clinical studies; 2) access to the centralised authorization procedure; 3) ten years of protection from market exclusivity once approved for marketing; 4) fee reductions for regulatory activities.
Until now, gastric cancer still constitutes a major global health problem with marked geographic disparities. According to GLOBOCAN 2022, there were around 1 million new cases and over 660 thousand new deaths of gastric cancer in 2022 globally[1]. Most patients with gastric cancer have insidious biological behavior and often diagnosed at an advanced stage, with a poor prognosis and a 5-year relative survival rate of only 6% [2,3]. The reported rates of HER2 positivity in patients with gastric cancer range from 12% to 23%, and the prognosis for patients with HER2-positive disease used to be even worse than those with HER2-negative disease [2,4]. Currently, for patients with HER2-positive locally advanced/metastatic G/GEJ cancer, the current standard first-line treatment is trastuzumab plus chemotherapy. Immunotherapies are recommended to be added for tumours with PD-L1 expression levels by CPS (Combined Positive Score) of greater than 1. However, the effectiveness and prognosis for these treatments need to be further improved [5].
HLX22, an innovative anti-HER2 mAb, can bind to HER2 extracellular subdomain IV at a binding site different from that of trastuzumab via differentiated molecular design and mechanism of action, which allows simultaneous binding of HLX22 and trastuzumab to HER2 dimers (HER2 homodimer and HER2/EGFR heterodimer) on tumour cell surface, resulting in a 40%–80% increase in HER2 internalisation. thereby strengthening the blockade of HER2-mediated signaling pathways. The phase 2 clinical data on the combination of HLX22 and HANQUYOU (trastuzumab, trade name: HERCESSI™ in the U.S., Zercepac® in Europe) demonstrate that the addition of HLX22 to trastuzumab plus chemotherapy significantly improves survival and anti-tumour efficacy in first-line treatment of HER2-positive gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJC) patients, with manageable safety profiles[6-8], expected to redefine the first-line standard treatment for advanced gastric cancer. Updated results were presented at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI)[9]. Further updates will be released at the upcoming 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, while the study design of its phase 3 clinical trial HLX22-GC-301 will also be released at the conference. In addition to gastric cancer, a phase 2 clinical trial of HLX22 in combination with trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has completed the first patient dosing for the treatment of HER2-low, hormone receptor (HR)-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in China.
Looking forward, Henlius will adhere to patient-centricity, accelerating the multi-regional clinical trials of HLX22 to deliver this innovative therapy to patients worldwide. Meanwhile, the company will continue to delve into the oncology field, driving the development of more innovative therapeautics to provide high-quality and affordable treatment options.
References
[1] Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, et al. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024: 1-35.
[2] Ajani JA. et al. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2022;20(2):167-92.
[3] Alsina M. et al. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023;20(3):155-70.
[4] Gravalos C. et al. Ann Oncol 2008;19(9):1523-9.
[5] NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Gastric Cancer V.1.2024
[6] Zhu X, Ding Y, Wang Q, Yang G, Zhou L, Wang Q. HLX22, an anti-HER-2 monoclonal antibody, in patients with advanced solid tumors overexpressing human epidermal growth factor receptor 2: an open-label, dose-escalation, phase 1 trial. Invest New Drugs. 2023;41(3):473-482.
[7] Jin Li et al., HLX22 plus HLX02 and XELOX for first-line treatment of HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer: A randomized, double-blind, multicenter phase 2 study. JCO 42, 354-354(2024).
[8] J. Li et al., 422P HLX22 plus HLX02 and XELOX as first-line therapy for HER2-positive advanced gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer: Updated results from a randomized, double-blind phase II study, Annals of Oncology,Annals of Oncology (2024) 35 (suppl_1): S162-S204. 10.1016/annonc/annonc1482
[9] Li, Jin, et al. "HLX22 plus trastuzumab and XELOX for first-line treatment of HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer (G/GEJC): Updated results with additional patients." (2025): 440-440.