Enrollment Change

HengRui's herombopag trial closes enrollment at 127, eyes Dec. 2026 readout

The Phase 3 surgery-platelet trial raised its enrollment target and moved to Active, not recruiting, joining a thrombopoietin-receptor field already served by five approved agonists in overlapping settings.

Jiangsu HengRui Medicine's Phase 3 trial of herombopag in chronic liver disease patients with thrombocytopenia raised its enrollment count to 127 from 101 and moved to Active, not recruiting, with a primary completion date now set for December 1, 2026.

By AppliedXLJuly 17, 2026Trial NCT06507436

Executive Summary

A Phase 3 trial of herombopag in chronic liver disease patients facing elective surgery finalized its enrollment above the original target and shifted to a closed-enrollment status, positioning the trial to report its primary result later this year.
Herombopag is not testing a new mechanism: thrombopoietin-receptor agonists already carry FDA approval for raising platelet counts before procedures in this same patient population, so the readout's value lies in whether herombopag matches that established response rather than in proving the approach works at all.
The trial's completion date has moved twice since initial registration, extending the expected readout window by more than a year, even as enrollment itself closed on schedule with the revised target.
Two thrombopoietin-receptor agonists already hold approval for the identical chronic-liver-disease pre-procedure indication, meaning herombopag would enter as an additional option in a mechanism class rather than as a first mover.

The registry update

The trial's enrollment count rose to 127 from 101, a change ClinicalTrials.gov logged alongside a status shift from Recruiting to Active, not recruiting on July 17, 2026. The two changes together indicate the trial reached its enrollment target and stopped taking new patients, the routine sequence for a Phase 3 study nearing its primary completion window. The enrollment increase falls within the range the operational model treats as typical for this design, since it moved from an anticipated to an actual count rather than reflecting a late-stage target cut. NCT06507436+1

Probability of Success

Endpoint Met82%

Completes95%

Clinical Significance25%

Regulatory63%

What the trial tests

The study enrolls adults with Child-Pugh Class A or B liver disease and platelet counts below 50x10^9/L who are scheduled for elective invasive procedures. Its primary endpoint asks whether the proportion of patients reaches a platelet count of at least 50x10^9/L within 24 hours before surgery, with an increase of at least 20x10^9/L from baseline, without needing a platelet transfusion or other rescue treatment. That endpoint is the same category the FDA has already accepted for approving thrombopoietin-receptor agonists in this exact surgical-thrombocytopenia setting. NCT06507436

The competitive bar

Avatrombopag and lusutrombopag both carry FDA approval for treating thrombocytopenia in adult chronic liver disease patients scheduled for a procedure, the identical population and use case herombopag is testing. Eltrombopag and romiplostim are approved thrombopoietin-receptor agonists as well, though in immune thrombocytopenia and related settings rather than this pre-procedure use. With the mechanism and the specific clinical use already validated by two approved competitors, herombopag's Phase 3 result needs to reproduce that established platelet-response rate rather than demonstrate a novel effect. Herombopag's sponsor also runs a Phase 3 trial of hetrombopag, a different thrombopoietin-receptor-family molecule, in a related thrombocytopenia population, giving the company two same-class assets in overlapping indications.

Timing track record

The trial's primary completion date has moved twice: first from August 30, 2025 to December 1, 2025, then from December 1, 2025 to December 1, 2026. That combined slip runs to roughly 15 months from the date first registered. Enrollment itself, however, closed at the revised target the same day the completion date shifted again, indicating the extension reflects a readout-timing adjustment rather than a struggle to enroll patients. NCT06507436

This analysis was produced using AI-assisted reporting systems, AppliedXL data, and official public records. These systems undergo editorial review, quality checks, and regular audits by human experts. Errors may still occur, as with any automated system. Always consult the linked primary sources. Read our AI Editorial Policy.