MicroPort MedBot Plans Hong Kong IPO with Up to $1 Billion Fundraising; Hillhouse Holds Over 8% Stake

According to IPO Zaozhidao, ShanghaiMicroPortRobot (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “MedBot”) plans to list in Hong Kong this year and is expected to formally submit its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as early as this month.

On December 31, 2020, MedBot had previouslyChina International Capital Corporation LimitedSigned an IPO tutoring agreement, planning to list on the STAR Market; on the same day, MedBot completed its joint-stock restructuring.

Founded in 2015, MedBot is primarily engaged in the R&D, production, and commercialization of surgical robotic medical devices. It has now established capabilities in multidisciplinary integration and platform-based expansion spanning optics, mechanics, electronics, control, software, algorithms, and imaging, comprehensively covering its strategic industrial layout for medical robots across the five "golden tracks" of laparoscopic, orthopedic, vascular intervention, natural orifice, and percutaneous puncture.

Currently, MedBot's products under development are at various stages of clinical or preclinical research. As of December 31, 2020, two products have entered the clinical trial phase, three have successfully obtained clinical trial exemption, and multiple products remain in the preclinical research phase.

Among them, two innovative surgical robotic medical device products in the clinical trial phase are the Toumai™ Endoscopic Surgical System and the Honghu™ Orthopedic Surgical Navigation System, both of which have been approved for the National Green Channel for Innovative Medical Devices.

It is worth mentioning that the Toumai™ endoscopic surgical system has completed the first radical prostatectomy using a domestically developed endoscopic surgical robot, a procedure considered a "gold standard" for endoscopic surgical robots due to its high technical barriers and substantial clinical demand; the Honghu™ orthopedic surgical navigation system was granted a key special project fund under the "13th Five-Year Plan" by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China in 2017; and the three products that successfully obtained clinical trial exemptions are the Dragonfly Eye DFVision™ 3D electronic laparoscope system and the medical endoscope cold light source, both applying for NMPA approval in China, and the Skywalker™ orthopedic surgical navigation system, which is applying for FDA approval in the United States.

Internationalization. In April 2020, MedBot entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Robocath, a French vascular interventional surgical robotics company, and established a joint venture in China to manufacture and assemble robotic systems locally and develop next-generation robotic systems and related artificial intelligence technologies, thereby accelerating the market launch of vascular interventional surgical robotic products in China. In May, it once again entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Singapore-based NDR Medical Technology and established another joint venture in China, responsible for the distribution, manufacturing, and joint research and development of "NDR" products in the Greater China region, to further accelerate its strategic expansion in the percutaneous puncture surgical robotics sector.

During the 2020 pandemic, the bronchial surgical robot independently developed by MedBot for COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment completed the first robot-assisted bronchoscopic alveolar lavage at Shanghai Chest Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University—through remote teleoperation of COVID-19 diagnostic and therapeutic procedures via the robot, physical isolation between medical staff and the infected surgical environment is achieved, which not only reduces the infection risk for healthcare workers during diagnosis and treatment but also helps improve the diagnosis and cure rates of COVID-19.

Global Market Insight data shows that the global surgical robotics market size grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.4% from 2018 to reach RMB 130 billion in 2024.

As a subsidiary spun off from MicroPort, MedBot, together with MicroPort, formally signed an external financing agreement totaling RMB 3 billion on August 31, 2020. The transaction included a direct capital increase of RMB 1.5 billion for the latter, as well as an equity transfer from MicroPort valued at RMB 1.5 billion, introducing several renowned strategic investors including Hillhouse Capital, CPE, Bailin Capital, Yuanyee Investment, and E Fund Capital, resulting in a post-money valuation of RMB 22.5 billion.

As of December 31, 2020, Hillhouse Capital held over 8% of the shares in MedBot, making it the largest institutional investor.

Responsible Editor: Ma Jie