Chinese drug developers are seeking IPOs in Hong Kong

TWO MORE CHINESE drug developers are seeking initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong, adding to the growing wave of biotech firms taking advantage of the city’s new listing rules.

Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceuticals and Frontier Biotechnologies are planning Hong Kong stock offerings that could each raise about $300 million (R4.2 billion), according to people with knowledge of the matter. The companies could list as soon as this year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Ascletis Pharma was the first biotech firm to list in Hong Kong after the stock exchange introduced new rules that allowed IPOs from unprofitable companies from the sector. Cancer-treatment developer Innovent Biologics and US-based Stealth BioTherapeutics are among the biotech firms that have filed listing applications since the rule change.

Shares of Ascletis and Chinese drugmaker BeiGene, which completed a secondary listing in the city this week, are both trading below their offer prices.

Listing preparations for Frontier and Kintor are at an early stage, and details of the potential offerings could change, the people said. A Hong Kong-based external representative for Kintor said she couldn’t immediately comment, while Frontier didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kintor focuses on treatments for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The company recently hired Eugene Huang, a former Jefferies Financial Group research analyst, as its chief financial officer. In June, it delisted from China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations, an over-the-counter market known as the New Third Board.

Nanjing-based Frontier, whose backers include Huaxin Century Investment Group and Shenzhen Capital Group, is a clinical-stage drug developer that focuses on HIV treatments.