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HanchorBio Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for HCB101 in Gastric Cancer

PR Newswire

Fri, February 13, 2026 at 3:04 PM GMT+9 5 min read

First SIRPα-IgG4 Fc Fusion Protein Granted Orphan Status in Gastric Cancer

TAIPEI, SHANGHAI and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – HanchorBio, Inc. (TPEx: 7827), a global clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing next-generation immunotherapies for oncology and autoimmune diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to HCB101 for the treatment of gastric cancer. The designation covers gastric cancer broadly, including advanced gastric adenocarcinoma in both HER2-positive and HER2-negative subtypes. This milestone underscores the significant unmet medical need in gastric cancer and provides important regulatory support for the continued clinical development of HCB101 in this patient population.

This designation marks the first FDA Orphan Drug Designation for HanchorBio, representing a significant regulatory milestone for the company and further validating its strategy of advancing differentiated immunotherapies in areas of high unmet medical need.

HCB101 is a next-generation CD47–SIRPα pathway inhibitor, engineered as an affinity-optimized and toxicity-mitigated SIRPα-IgG4 Fc fusion protein. The molecule is designed to restore macrophage-mediated phagocytosis and enhance antigen presentation while minimizing the hematologic toxicities that have historically limited earlier CD47-targeting approaches, enabling rational combination with established standards of care.

“Receiving our first FDA Orphan Drug Designation is a major milestone for HanchorBio and important validation of our scientific, regulatory, and development strategy,” said Scott Liu, PhD, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of HanchorBio. “Gastric cancer remains an area of profound unmet medical need, and this designation reinforces our commitment to developing differentiated immunotherapies that can meaningfully improve outcomes for patients. This designation strengthens HCB101’s profile as a globally relevant asset and represents a strategically important step as we advance the program toward U.S. and international development. It further supports our ongoing engagement with multinational partners as we explore collaboration and licensing opportunities for HCB101 and our broader immunotherapy pipeline.”

Gastric cancer is a rare disease in the United States, with prevalence well below the FDA’s statutory threshold for orphan designation. Despite advances in targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibition, outcomes, particularly in the second-line setting, remain poor, with limited durability of response and substantial treatment-related toxicity.

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HCB101 is currently being evaluated in multiple ongoing clinical studies, including a Phase 1b/2a trial (NCT06771622) assessing HCB101 in combination with ramucirumab and paclitaxel in second-line advanced gastric cancer. Early clinical findings have demonstrated promising antitumor activity with a safety profile consistent with the molecule’s differentiated design.

**Alvin Luk, PhD, MBA, CCRA, President & Chief Medical Officer (Group) and Chief Executive Officer (U.S.A.) of HanchorBio, added, **“The FDA’s decision reflects the seriousness of gastric cancer and the clinical rationale underlying HCB101’s development. HCB101’s IgG4-based SIRPα-Fc design was intentionally selected to support repeated dosing and combination strategies as an innate immune checkpoint backbone in solid tumors. In a second-line gastric cancer setting, where standard regimens offer limited durability, the depth of tumor shrinkage and consistency of response observed to date, while remaining compatible with standard ramucirumab-paclitaxel administration, support the continued global advancement of HCB101 for patients with significant unmet need.”

Orphan Drug Designation provides certain development incentives, including eligibility for tax credits on qualified clinical trial expenses, exemption from FDA user fees, and the potential for seven years of market exclusivity upon approval in the United States.

HanchorBio plans to continue advancing HCB101 through global clinical development while exploring its potential as a backbone immunotherapy across multiple solid tumor indications.

**About HCB101

**HCB101 is a rationally engineered SIRPα–IgG4 Fc fusion protein developed on HanchorBio’s FBDB™ platform to selectively block the CD47–SIRPα innate immune checkpoint while minimizing hematologic toxicity. Unlike earlier anti-CD47 approaches, HCB101 is designed to preserve macrophage-mediated antitumor activity while reducing binding to red blood cells, a limitation that historically constrained the clinical utility of CD47-directed therapies.

HCB101 was engineered using AI-assisted structural modeling to achieve differentiated binding to CD47 on cancer cells while maintaining low affinity for CD47 on red blood cells. Its safety profile, receptor occupancy characteristics, and pharmacologic properties are designed to support integration with established oncology regimens without disrupting standard dosing, safety expectations, or clinical workflows. Across ongoing clinical and translational evaluation, HCB101 has demonstrated consistent target engagement and early antitumor activity as both monotherapy and in combination settings, including tumor types historically considered challenging for CD47-directed therapies.

Together, these attributes position HCB101 as a differentiated innate immune checkpoint backbone with broad potential for a wide variety of combination strategies across solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

**About HanchorBio

**Based in Taipei, Shanghai, and the San Francisco Bay Area, HanchorBio (TPEx: 7827) is a global biotechnology company specializing in immuno-oncology. It is led by an experienced team of pharmaceutical industry veterans with a proven track record in biologics discovery and international development, aiming to reshape the landscape of cancer therapies. Committed to reactivating the immune system to fight disease, the proprietary Fc-based designer biologics (FBDB™) platform enables the development of unique biologics with diverse multi-targeting modalities, unleashing both innate and adaptive immunity to overcome the current challenges of anti-PD1/L1 therapies. The FBDB™ platform has successfully delivered proof-of-concept data in several in vivo tumor animal models. By advancing breakthroughs in multi-functional, innovative molecular configurations in R&D and improving CMC manufacturing processes, HanchorBio develops transformative medicines to address unmet medical needs. For more information, please visit:

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