Offshore Trust Insight | ASCLETIS-B (01672.HK) closes up 1.99%; Mrs. Wu holds about 7.8% of interests through discretionary trusts

The Company listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 1 August 2018 and is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. On 11 November, the Company announced that it had submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ASC30_39 FDC for the treatment of obesity. The drug candidate is a once-daily oral fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablet of ASC30, a small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, and ASC39, a small-molecule selective amylin receptor agonist (SARA), and is the first oral GLP-1 and oral amylin combination to have an IND submitted.

On offshore trusts, the Company's 2026 interim report states that Mrs. Wu (spouse of Dr. Wu), an executive director, holds 82,827,414 shares, approximately 7.75%, in the capacity of interest in a controlled corporation; a note to the report states that these shares were held by Lakemont Holding LLC, which was controlled by Lakemont Remainder Trust as to 45.95% and Northridge Trust as to 53.52%, that the two trusts (the "Family Trusts") are discretionary trusts, and that Mrs. Wu was their protector, can exercise the voting rights in the shares held by the Family Trusts, and was their investment advisor. Accordingly, these shares under Mrs. Wu's name are held through entities under the family trusts and fall within the scope of offshore family trusts.

The same report also states that Dr. Wu holds 490,813,664 shares, approximately 45.94%, in the capacity of interest in a controlled corporation, with a note stating that these shares were held through JJW12 Limited, a British Virgin Islands company wholly owned by him, and do not fall under the trusts.

On trading eligibility, Hang Seng Indexes Company announced on 21 August 2026 the results of the quarterly review of the Hang Seng Index series as at 30 June 2026, in which ASCLETIS-B was included in the Hang Seng Composite Index with effect from 7 September 2026; the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange announced in the same period that the Company's shares would be added to the Stock Connect eligible securities lists under Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect with effect from 7 September 2026.

One broker's research report notes that the U.S. Phase IIa study of the Company's oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist ASC30 for the treatment of obesity produced positive data, with all three dose groups meeting expectations on placebo-adjusted weight reduction at week 13, no liver safety signals observed and good tolerability; the broker believes the data further demonstrate best-in-class potential and strengthen confidence in future collaborations.

On the operating front, total income for the first half of 2026 was RMB 52.979 million, down 48.9% year on year; research and development costs were RMB 342 million, up 132.7% year on year, which the Company attributed mainly to strategic investment in advancing its comprehensive metabolic disease pipeline, including small molecules and peptides. Loss attributable to equity shareholders of the Company for the period was RMB 320 million, against a loss of RMB 88 million in the same period of the prior year, widening 263.5% year on year; basic and diluted loss per share was RMB 30.74 cents. As at 30 June 2026, the Group's cash and cash equivalents, time deposits, negotiable certificates of deposit, structured deposits and wealth management products totalled approximately RMB 2,305.4 million, which the Company said would support operations through 2029.