How Michelle Xia outmanoeuvred Merck in China:
Akeso CEO Xia gained experience in the US before launching her own biotech company back home in China ...
forbesindia.com/article/global-game/cross-border/biotech-billionaire/2988107/1
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Akeso Cancer Drug Outperformed Merck’s Keytruda in Chinese Phase 3 TrialSummit is conducting its own Phase 3 trials to seek US approval for ivonescimab.
Key FactsOct 22, 2025 · Reading time: ~45 sec.
Summary created with AI assistance · Source: forbesindia.com
Summary created with AI assistance · Source: forbesindia.com
- After 12 years in US research and biotech, Xia founded Akeso in Zhongshan, China, in 2012.
- In a 2024 Chinese Phase 3 trial, patients with a specific lung cancer went median 11.1 versus 5.8 months without progression on ivonescimab.
- Summit licensed ivonescimab in December 2022 for $500 million upfront and up to $4.5 billion in milestone payments.
- Akeso shares more than tripled within a year; Forbes estimates Xia’s fortune at $1.5 billion.
All of the pharma companies passed on ivonescimab primarily because they didn't believe the data.— Ken Clark, longtime biotech lawyer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a board member of Summit Therapeutics, describing why major pharma firms declined ivonescimab.
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