(Adds analyst comments in paragraph 10; updates shares in paragraphs 1 and 5)
By Sriparna Roy
Sept 9 (Reuters) - Summit Therapeutics shares soared as much as 75% to a record high on Monday as a study in China showed some lung cancer patients on the company's experimental drug had better survival rates than those on Merck's blockbuster Keytruda.
The drug developer said on Sunday invonescimab showed patients lived a median of more than 11 months without a progression in the disease, a statistically significant improvement over Keytruda, the world's biggest selling drug.
The additional data is from a late-stage study conducted by its partner Akeso , whose initial results were announced in May.
Since then Summit's stock price has surged more than four times, boosting its market value to $8.6 billion as of Friday's close.
They were up 58.6% at $19.46 and were set to add about $6 billion to its market value, if gains hold. Merck's shares fell 2.3%.
Analysts, however, downplayed worries around Keytruda facing a challenge from Summit's drug as it remains years away from the market.
J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott said the data does not meaningfully alter their view on Keytruda, which is due to go off-patent in the coming years.
Summit did not disclose details about the global trial it plans to start next year. Those trials are crucial as U.S. lawmakers have often doubted studies conducted in China.
The FDA had in 2022 declined approval for treatments from Eli Lilly and Hutchmed that were tested only in China.
Citi analyst Yigal Nochomovitz said data from the global study will be needed to validate the result and if favorable, "invonescimab could dethrone Keytruda and become the new standard".
The therapy is an antibody designed to block a protein called PD-1, which helps the body's immune system to fend off cancer. Keytruda also targets the same protein.
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(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com))
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