New York, May 23, 2026, 09:03 (EDT)
- Ascentage Pharma’s ADS on Nasdaq finished Friday at $21.01, rising 1.69%. The stock had hit a 52-week low earlier this week.
- Ascentage Pharma published new ASCO 2026 abstract data from six studies, with updates on olverembatinib, lisaftoclax, and alrizomadlin.
- Nasdaq is closed this weekend and won’t reopen until Tuesday, as the exchange will be shut Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day.
Ascentage Pharma Group International’s U.S. shares climbed going into the long weekend, after the cancer drug maker put out fresh clinical results before the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. That offered investors an update on a pipeline that’s faced pressure most of the past year.
The American depositary shares finished at $21.01 on Friday, gaining 35 cents, or 1.69%. The ADSs stayed far from the 52-week high of $48.45, though the stock had dropped to $18.56 earlier in the week.
That’s what makes timing important here. U.S. markets are closed Monday for Memorial Day, so traders go into the week with Ascentage shares near the bottom of the 12-month range and looking ahead to data coming out of ASCO in Chicago, which runs from May 29 to June 2.
Six clinical study abstracts are now on ASCO’s website, the company said Thursday. Three got picked for rapid oral presentations and three for poster sessions. The presentations cover olverembatinib, used in some leukemias, lisaftoclax, a BCL-2 inhibitor for blood cancers, and alrizomadlin, an MDM2-p53 inhibitor.
Cycle 24 data from a second-line chronic myeloid leukemia trial of olverembatinib showed a complete cytogenetic response rate of 91.3% in 42 evaluable patients, Ascentage said. Major molecular response rate came in at 60.9%. Major molecular response refers to a marked drop in BCR-ABL signal in blood or marrow.
Olverembatinib combined with blinatumomab was looked at in relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemia, according to an early study. Out of five patients with measurable residual disease and no complete response when they started, four had a complete response, Ascentage said. Two of those reached measurable residual disease negativity.
AAPG shares climbed this week, finishing Friday about 7.7% higher than their May 15 closing price of $19.50. But the gain did little to reverse the broader slump. The stock is still down about 56.6% from its 52-week high, according to StockAnalysis data.
Wall Street had a lift from the broader tape. U.S. stocks closed out Friday in the green. The S&P 500 finished up 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%. Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2%. All three wrapped up an eighth consecutive winning week for U.S. markets.
Ascentage is facing heavy competition in crowded blood-cancer markets. In chronic myeloid leukemia, Novartis has U.S. approval for Scemblix, or asciminib, as a treatment for newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic-phase CML. Takeda’s Iclusig, or ponatinib, is already cleared for use with chemotherapy in Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
BCL-2 trials for lisaftoclax are being watched against a market where AbbVie and Roche’s Venclexta, or venetoclax, leads. Venclexta treats adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, and is used in combo for some acute myeloid leukemia cases.
Deutsche Bank’s James Shin put a buy on Ascentage in April and set a $40 price target, picking out olverembatinib and lisaftoclax as main drivers, Investing.com reported. Shin said Western market expansion could be more upside. Analysts are watching to see if Ascentage can translate China sales into global value.
ASCO data may fall short for investors. Some studies are still at early stages, and Ascentage has said none of olverembatinib, lisaftoclax or alrizomadlin have FDA approval yet—they’re still being studied. Thin U.S. trading can also swing the ADS more than usual, so shares could drop if people think the data won’t shift timelines for approval or sales.
Nasdaq traders return Tuesday after the holiday. Investors are set to watch if the ASCO abstracts drive more institutional buying, or if AAPG’s recent bounce loses steam before presentations kick off in Chicago.
