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Shanghai Allist Pharmaceuticals shares fell 20% to 89.26 yuan on Thursday, October 8, hitting the daily trading limit after U.S. partner ArriVent BioPharma reported that a Phase 3 trial of firmonertinib failed to meet its main goal. The decline followed China’s weeklong National Day market holiday, during which investors could not trade on the news.
The setback concerns a proposed first-line treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer carrying EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations. Allist’s drug did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival against chemotherapy in the trial’s primary analysis, complicating the partners’ effort to expand its use internationally. The result does not, by itself, change the drug’s existing approvals in China for other patient groups.
Primary endpoint fell short
ArriVent announced the FURVENT trial results on October 6. The global study tested firmonertinib at daily doses of 160 milligrams and 240 milligrams against platinum-based chemotherapy with pemetrexed, enrolling 398 patients across sites in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Under blinded independent central review, median progression-free survival was 11 months for the 240-milligram group and 9.5 months for the control group. The comparison produced a hazard ratio of 0.75 and a p-value of 0.0654; ArriVent said the trial did not meet its primary endpoint. The 160-milligram group recorded median progression-free survival of 8.4 months.
The company reported more favorable results on some secondary measures. Investigator-assessed median progression-free survival was 11.1 months at 240 milligrams, compared with 7.1 months for chemotherapy, while confirmed response rates assessed by independent review were 60% and 33%, respectively. Overall-survival data were not yet mature, and ArriVent reported no new safety signals.
Holiday break concentrated the reaction
Chinese mainland exchanges were closed from October 1 through October 7 for the National Day holiday, leaving October 8 as the first trading session after ArriVent’s announcement. Investing.com reported that Allist shares reached the 20% daily limit at 89.26 yuan during Thursday’s session, their lowest level since June 24.
The timing meant investors responded to the trial disclosure when trading resumed rather than over several sessions. The sharp move reflects the market’s reaction to uncertainty around the drug’s prospects in this particular first-line indication; it does not establish that all of firmonertinib’s approved or studied uses have been affected.
Allist’s revenue exposure raises the stakes
Furmonertinib is a central commercial product for Allist. Company half-year results reported revenue of about 3.32 billion yuan for the six months ended June 30, 2026, up from approximately 2.37 billion yuan a year earlier. The company-related reporting on Thursday said furmonertinib sales exceeded 3.1 billion yuan in the first half, underscoring the drug’s importance to the business.
ArriVent and Allist have been developing the medicine together for markets outside Greater China under a licensing arrangement dating to 2021. The FURVENT result puts the path for the tested first-line use into question, but ArriVent said it was reviewing the full dataset with Allist before determining the appropriate development path.
Firmonertinib remains approved in China for several other settings, including first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer with certain classical EGFR mutations and later-line treatment for patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations after platinum chemotherapy. The trial announcement therefore marks a setback for a specific development program, not a withdrawal of those existing indications.
Buyback proposal and next steps
Separate company-related reporting said Allist’s chairman and controlling shareholder proposed a share repurchase using company funds, with a planned range of 100 million to 200 million yuan. The proposal was reported as a response to the market shock; it is not evidence that the repurchase has been completed.
ArriVent said the partners were evaluating the complete FURVENT data. As of Thursday, they had not announced a final decision on whether or how to continue development for the first-line EGFR exon 20 insertion indication. The immature overall-survival results and the partners’ review remain key unresolved elements.
