Ascletis Pharma-B (01672) shares jumped nearly 5% in early trading, before paring gains to a modest 0.50% increase, reaching HK$10.11 with turnover of HK$1.82 million.

The company announced it has initiated a Phase I study in the United States for ASC36 oral tablets, an oral amylin receptor agonist peptide designed for obesity treatment, following recent FDA approval of its Investigational New Drug application.

Dr. Johnny Wu, founder, chairman, and CEO of Ascletis, stated that 2026 marks the commencement of Phase I trials for four pipeline candidates, with ASC36 being the fourth and latest. He highlighted this achievement as a significant milestone for the company's peptide pipeline and further validation of its proprietary POTENT oral peptide delivery technology.