CARSGEN-B (02171) saw its shares rise nearly 3% before noon, last trading up 2.47% at HK$12.86 with a turnover of HK$16.44 million. The uptick follows the company's announcement on September 14 that its independently developed FNC lymphodepletion pretreatment regimen—a combination of the traditional lymphodepletion protocol with low-dose albumin-bound paclitaxel—has officially secured a patent grant from China's National Intellectual Property Administration.

With this latest approval, the FNC pretreatment regimen has now completed its patent portfolio in all major global markets, following prior grants in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. This milestone signifies the full closure of the intellectual property protection loop for the core technology behind Cilta-cel (Shuricel/Lepodisiran), the company's product candidate.

The patent grant in China extends CARSGEN's protection of Cilta-cel beyond the single product level to encompass the entire treatment approach, including the lymphodepletion pretreatment process. This strategic move raises the research and development and commercialization hurdles for similar competing products, thereby solidifying the company's leading position in the solid tumor CAR-T field.