The innovative drug sector remains actively engaged, with the AACR Annual Meeting approaching. The Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovative Drug ETF ICBC (159217) helps to seize development opportunities in the innovative drug industry with one click.

How will the AACR Annual Meeting catalyze the global competitiveness of the innovative drug sector?

Recently, the innovative drug sector has remained active, with Wind data showing that as of the early trading hours on April 2, 2026, related indices for the innovative drug sector have strengthened. ETFs such as the ICBC Innovation Drug ETF (159217), the ICBC Healthcare ETF (159167), and the STAR Market Medical ETF (588860) have attracted market attention.

According to statistics from Guosheng Securities, as of December 31, 2025, there are a total of 14,088 innovative drugs in active research and development worldwide. Chinese companies hold 4,751 original research drugs (33.7%), surpassing the United States (4,019, 28.5%), ranking first. Since 2020, the number of innovative drugs entering clinical trials in China has grown rapidly, with 827 original research innovative drugs entering clinical trials in 2025 for the first time, accounting for 47.4% of the global total.

China’s external licensing (BD) of innovative drugs is also continuously increasing. The National Medical Products Administration disclosed on March 28 that in the first three months of this year, the total value of external licensing transactions for innovative drugs in China exceeded $60 billion, nearly half of the total for 2025.

On the news front, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting will be held in San Diego, USA, from April 17-22, 2026. It is expected that over 100 Chinese pharmaceutical companies will participate in AACR, presenting nearly 400 research results covering multiple current popular targets and frontier technologies. Changcheng Guorui Securities pointed out that as an important data release window for global tumor innovative drugs, the AACR annual meeting is expected to become a key catalyst for the innovative drug sector in the next stage, further strengthening market awareness of China’s global competitiveness in innovative drugs.

The ICBC Innovation Drug ETF (159217), which closely tracks the Guozheng Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug Index, aims to reflect the overall performance of listed companies in the innovative drug industry within the Hong Kong Stock Connect scope. It focuses on high-growth areas such as biopharmaceuticals and medical R&D outsourcing, featuring high flexibility. Wind data shows that as of April 1, 2026, the Price-to-Earnings ratio (PE-TTM) of the Guozheng Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug Index was 56.62 times, at the 65.40th percentile over the past 10 years, indicating certain investment value.

Additionally, the constituent stocks of the Guozheng Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug Index are highly concentrated in innovative pharmaceutical companies. According to Shenwan secondary industry classification, as of April 1, their industry distribution is focused on biopharmaceuticals and chemical pharmaceuticals, accounting for over 90% combined, which helps precisely capture growth dividends in the Hong Kong innovative drug market.

Wind data shows that the ICBC Innovation Drug ETF (159217), as an on-market investment tool closely tracking the Guozheng Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovation Drug Index, has management and custody fees of 0.40% and 0.07% annually, respectively, helping investors seize development opportunities in the innovative drug industry at low cost with one click. For those interested in opportunities in the STAR Market’s innovative drugs, the ICBC STAR Market Medical ETF (588860) can be considered.

Fund fee disclosures:

1. The on-market trading fees for the ICBC Innovation Drug ETF and the ICBC STAR Market Medical ETF are subject to the actual charges by securities firms. Subscription fees are charged during the fund subscription process. When investors subscribe for fund shares, the subscription and redemption agents may charge a commission not exceeding 0.5%, which includes related fees from stock exchanges, registrars, etc. Redemption fees are charged during the redemption process, with similar commission limits. The management fee for the ICBC Innovation Drug ETF is 0.4% annually, and the custody fee is 0.07% annually; the ICBC STAR Market Medical ETF’s management fee is 0.45% annually, with a custody fee of 0.07% annually.

2. The on-market trading fees for the ICBC Healthcare ETF are subject to the actual charges by securities firms. When subscribing or redeeming fund shares, agents may charge a commission not exceeding 0.3%, including related fees from stock exchanges, registrars, etc. The management fee is 0.5% annually, and the custody fee is 0.1% annually.

Risk warning: The fund manager manages and uses the fund assets in accordance with principles of diligent duty, honesty, and prudence but does not guarantee the fund’s profitability or minimum returns. Past performance does not predict future results, and the performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not guarantee the performance of this fund. The ICBC Innovation Drug ETF and the ICBC Healthcare ETF are stock funds, with higher risks and returns than hybrid, bond, and money market funds. They are index funds that mainly adopt a full replication strategy to track the market performance of the underlying index, sharing similar risk-return characteristics with the index and the stock market it represents. They will also invest in Hong Kong Stock Connect target stocks, bearing exchange rate risk and risks arising from differences in investment environment, target assets, market systems, and trading rules under the Hong Kong Stock Connect mechanism. Investing in ETFs involves risks related to index fluctuations, deviations between fund portfolio returns and index returns, and other specific risks. Equity funds carry significant volatility risk. Investors should carefully read the 《Fund Contract》, 《Prospectus》, 《Fund Product Summary》, and other legal documents before investing, fully understand the product details, fee structure, charges across sales channels, and seek appropriate advice from sales institutions, then choose investment products suitable for their risk tolerance. Investment in funds should be cautious.