Assessing Ascletis Pharma (SEHK:1672) Valuation After New ASC37 Obesity Candidate Advances Toward FDA IND Filing

Ascletis Pharma (SEHK:1672) just flagged a major pipeline milestone, selecting its in house, AI optimized ASC37 oral triple peptide agonist for clinical development in obesity, with an FDA IND filing targeted for 2026.

See our latest analysis for Ascletis Pharma.

That R&D breakthrough lands after a wild run in the stock, with a 1 month share price return of 42.97 percent and a massive 1 year total shareholder return of 663.58 percent, suggesting momentum is still very much alive.

If this kind of biotech upside gets your attention, it could be worth exploring other healthcare names through healthcare stocks as potential next candidates for your watchlist.

Yet despite surging more than sixfold in a year and trading at a steep premium to recent history, Ascletis still sits well below analyst targets. This leaves investors to ask whether this is a fresh buying window or if markets already price in the next leg of growth.

Price to Book of 6.4x: Is it justified?

On a price to book basis, Ascletis Pharma looks inexpensive against direct peers yet still commands a premium to the broader Hong Kong biotech space.

The price to book ratio compares a company’s market value to its net asset value, a common yardstick for R&D heavy biopharma where earnings are still negative. For Ascletis, this lens highlights how much investors are willing to pay today for the balance sheet and underlying pipeline assets while profits remain elusive.

Compared with its closest valuation peers, Ascletis trades at 6.4 times book value versus a towering 119.1 times average. This indicates the market assigns it far less optimism than some high flying names. However, relative to the wider Hong Kong biotechs industry average of 4.8 times, the same 6.4 times multiple suddenly looks rich. This suggests investors already embed a substantial premium for its obesity and antiviral pipeline, even before profitability turns the corner.

See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown.

Result: Price to Book of 6.4x (ABOUT RIGHT)

However, investors still face clear risks, including clinical setbacks on obesity assets and extended losses if commercialization of its pipeline lags expectations.

Find out about the key risks to this Ascletis Pharma narrative.

Build Your Own Ascletis Pharma Narrative

If this perspective does not fully align with your own views, dive into the numbers yourself and build a personalized thesis in minutes: Do it your way.

A great starting point for your Ascletis Pharma research is our analysis highlighting 1 key reward and 4 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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