METiS TechBio secures record US$148 million cornerstone for Hong Kong AI pharma IPO

In the 2026 Hong Kong IPO market, the AI drug discovery sector has received the most significant capital signal of the year to date.

On May 5, METiS TechBio (7666.HK) announced its global offering and listing plan on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The total number of shares to be offered under the global offering is 201,229,000 shares (subject to the exercise of the over-allotment option). Among these, 10,061,500 shares will be offered in the Hong Kong public offering (subject to reallocation), and 191,167,500 shares will be offered in the international placing (subject to reallocation and the exercise of the over-allotment option).

Among them, the cornerstone investors also made their first collective appearance. The cornerstone lineup led by BlackRock with 50 million US dollars has a total subscription of up to 148 million US dollars, setting a new record for the scale of cornerstone investments in the Hong Kong stock market's AI pharmaceuticals sector this year.

On this occasion, four major international asset management giants — BlackRock, UBS, Mirae Asset Capital, and ORIX Corporation — have collectively entered as cornerstone subscribers. Three international specialized healthcare funds — Deerfield, RTW, and Lake Bleu Capital — have simultaneously lent their support. Three major AI technology funds — Walden International, Hillhouse Capital, and IDG — have made a rare joint commitment. Such a lineup is uncommon even in Hong Kong's primary market. Even more notably, the state-backed fund China Reform Securities has made its debut as a cornerstone investor in the AI drug discovery space. Meanwhile, four Chinese public fund managers — ICBC, China Asset Management, Fullgoal Fund, and GF Fund — have gathered together at the cornerstone level. This forms a five-dimensional capital resonance consisting of international asset managers, specialized healthcare funds, AI technology funds, state-backed funds, and Chinese public funds.

Why has a six-year-old AI nanodelivery company won the pursuit of such an ultra-premium lineup of cornerstone investors? As the AI story evolves from that of a "pick-and-shovel seller" to truly tackling the hardest challenge in drug research and development — drug delivery — where exactly does the technological scarcity of METiS TechBio lie? Why have BlackRock, UBS, Deerfield, China Reform Securities, and ICBC — investors with vastly different styles — coincidentally chosen to make a heavy bet on METiS TechBio at this moment? What paradigm shift is taking place behind the commercialization narrative of AI drug discovery? This article will deconstruct the capital logic, technological moats, and industry signals behind METiS TechBio's US$148 million cornerstone feast.

The prospectus shows that the global offering price is HK$10.50 per H-share, with a total of 201 million H-shares to be offered globally. Assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised (i.e., excluding the "green shoe mechanism"), METiS TechBio's IPO will raise over HK$2.1 billion.

Approximately RMB 865 million (about 50.0%) will be used to support its core technology research, development, and advancement of its artificial intelligence infrastructure and AI-driven nanomaterial platform.

Another approximately RMB 346 million (about 20.0%) will be allocated for ongoing and planned clinical trials in the company's AI-developed product pipeline, advancing candidate drugs across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities. These investments will support regulatory filings, indication expansion, and early clinical validation. Approximately RMB 173 million (about 10.0%) will be used to develop animal health and anti-aging solutions, extending AI-powered solutions into these high-growth areas and applying nanomaterial technology beyond human therapeutics. Approximately RMB 173 million (about 10.0%) will support its growth strategy of building an AI-driven nanomaterial ecosystem globally, strengthening its presence in overseas markets. Approximately RMB 173 million (about 10.0%) will be used as working capital and for other general corporate purposes.

As the public offering information for METiS TechBio's IPO gradually becomes available, the lineup of star investors has emerged.

First, there is the joint sponsor lineup. Jefferies, Deutsche Securities Asia, and CITIC Securities (Hong Kong) are acting as joint sponsors. This is a rare occurrence in the Hong Kong AI drug discovery sector. Jefferies has deep expertise in cross-border investment and financing, Deutsche Bank possesses strong advantages in European capital market resources, and CITIC Securities has extensive coverage among Chinese institutional investors. The three sponsors form a complementary structure of cross-border resources and global market access, laying a solid foundation for METiS TechBio's future international development and communication with overseas investors.

What has drawn even more market attention is the cornerstone investor lineup. METiS TechBio has secured collective support from international asset managers, international specialized healthcare funds, AI technology funds, state-backed funds, and Chinese public fund giants.

Among them, BlackRock led the cornerstone subscription with a $50 million investment, which is a highly significant brand endorsement. As the world's largest asset management company, managing approximately $14 trillion in assets, BlackRock has been continuously increasing its investment in the AI sector in recent years. Its CEO, Larry Fink, warned in the 2026 annual shareholder letter that "failure to invest in AI could risk being left behind by the times." BlackRock's participation with $50 million signifies that this global asset management giant has included METiS TechBio in its medium- to long-term core allocation portfolio within the AI track.

At the same time, three other international asset management giants, UBS Asset Management, Mirae Asset Capital, and ORIX Corporation, have also entered. UBS recently reaffirmed its overweight rating on the Chinese market, pointing out that the attractiveness of Chinese assets is expected to increase further in 2026. METiS TechBio may serve as a concrete example of this judgment.

In terms of international professional healthcare funds, the collective support from Deerfield, RTW, and Lake Bleu Capital signifies the recognition of  METiS TechBio in the pharmaceutical field. Deerfield, managing $15 billion in assets, is a globally renowned investment management firm specializing in the healthcare sector. RTW, with $9.2 billion in managed assets, focuses on deep investments in life sciences. Lake Bleu Capital is one of the largest professional investment platforms in China's medical and pharmaceutical industries, with an asset management scale of $3 billion. The simultaneous involvement of these three major healthcare funds indicates that professional institutions deeply recognize the value and potential returns of the company's AI nanodelivery technology.

Walden International, Hillhouse, and IDG, three major AI technology funds, have also made a rare joint investment as cornerstone investors. Walden International, founded in Silicon Valley, USA, in 1987, is one of the top venture capital firms in the global semiconductor and AI fields, managing over $3 billion in capital. From investing in SMIC to frequently participating in AI chip projects in recent years, it has become a super player in the hard technology track. Hillhouse has deeply invested in the healthcare sector, forming an industry-wide, full-cycle, multi-track layout. In 2026, it made cornerstone investments in several high-quality Hong Kong IPOs, with most projects showing good returns. IDG led investments in multiple "AI + life sciences" frontier projects. The simultaneous appearance of these three funds as cornerstone investors indicates that their bet on METiS TechBio's technical roadmap has moved from concept validation to mass implementation.

The debut of China Reform Securities funds conveys a signal at the national strategic level. The Central Enterprise Strategic Emerging Industry Fund, established and managed by China Reform Holdings Corporation, has an initial size of RMB 51 billion and focuses on strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence, and biomedicine. In the eyes of the market, China Reform Securities funds' participation in the cornerstone subscription means that METiS TechBio has been brought into the strategic vision of state-backed capital. Its AI nanodelivery technology is regarded as a key area supported by national policy within the biomedical field, laying the groundwork for the company to receive further collaborative support from national industrial resources.

In addition, four Chinese public fund managers, ICBC, China Asset Management, Fullgoal Fund, and GF Fund, have rarely appeared together in the same cornerstone subscription. ICBC had total assets under management of RMB 2.37 trillion as of the end of 2025. China Asset Management's active equity products have shown outstanding net value growth rates in the past six months. As of December 31, 2025, Fullgoal Fund managed RMB 1,957.3 billion, making it one of the larger fund management companies in China. GF Fund currently manages over RMB 2 trillion. The simultaneous participation of these four institutions as cornerstone investors in an AI pharmaceutical company indicates that METiS TechBio has become a core medium-to-long-term allocation target for mainstream public funds in the innovative drug sector.

From international asset management giants to specialized healthcare funds, and from AI technology funds to state-backed funds, top-tier capital across all categories has achieved comprehensive coverage in the cornerstone subscription for METiS TechBio. Capital from different dimensions has formed multi-layered consensus on METiS TechBio, ranging from technological scarcity to sector certainty and national strategic importance. Compared with other companies in the same sector that launched their public offerings during the same period, METiS TechBio's cornerstone lineup is significantly larger than the industry average. The resulting market expectation gap has become a key signal for investors to focus their attention.

The cornerstone subscription of US$148 million has enabled METiS TechBio to set a new high for IPO cornerstone amounts in the Hong Kong AI drug discovery sector since the beginning of 2026. This figure is not accidental but represents a collective confirmation by the capital market of the value transfer trend within the AI pharmaceutical industry chain. The narrative of AI in the pharmaceutical field is upgrading from an early-stage auxiliary tool to a core underlying infrastructure, and nanomedicine delivery is precisely the branch with the greatest explosive potential within this trend. With its self-developed NanoForge platform, METiS TechBio is positioned at the intersection of the delivery revolution and the efficiency-amplifying effect of AI, forming a globally scarce investment target.

From the perspective of capital organization logic, this cornerstone subscription has broken through the traditional cognitive boundary of risk locking, with funds engaging in a process of strategy validation and directional selection.

International asset management giants have included METiS TechBio as a core holding in their AI allocation portfolios. Specialized healthcare funds view it as a lever to drive the next generation of innovative drug innovation. AI technology funds regard it as a benchmark layout in the cross-disciplinary field of AI plus life sciences. Each type of institution can find a completely self-consistent and logically clear rationale for investing in METiS TechBio. This multi-dimensional consensus is relatively rare among Hong Kong IPO cases in recent years.

The scarcity of METiS TechBio's core platform, NanoForge, constitutes the underlying support that has enabled cornerstone institutions to commit such significant capital. NanoForge integrates the company's self-generated large lipid library, AI foundation models, METiS agents, quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics simulations, and an AI-driven high-throughput screening platform. On this basis, the company has developed three specialized solutions: AiTEM, AiLNP, and AiRNA. METiS TechBio has demonstrated that it can shorten the development time for targeted lipid nanoparticle or small molecule formulations from one to two years to less than three months.

In terms of commercialization progress, METiS TechBio has achieved precise targeted delivery to eight major organs, including the liver, lung, muscle, and tumors. The company's pipeline includes more than ten product candidates, covering areas such as oncology, immune system diseases, central nervous system disorders, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions, muscle diseases, and metabolic disorders. Among these, MTS-004 is the first PBA drug in China to complete Phase III clinical trials, filling a domestic gap. It has been out-licensed, generating an upfront payment of RMB 100 million and milestone payments of up to RMB 1.845 billion. MTS-105 has received Orphan Drug Designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration. MTS-128, with its dual-target molecule that is significantly smaller than competitors, is positioning itself as the next-generation autoimmune pipeline candidate.

On the financial dimension, METiS TechBio's gross margin reached 98.2% in 2025. Its adjusted net loss narrowed from RMB 347 million to RMB 180 million. This continued improvement in the loss trajectory plays a crucial role in supporting investor confidence. The company's research and development expenses gradually optimized from RMB 290 million in 2023 to RMB 270 million in 2025, reflecting continuously improving research and development efficiency.

Behind the rush of cornerstone institutions to subscribe is the structural opportunity driven by the global pharmaceutical industry's transition from the era of target discovery to the era of delivery-driven development. Innovative drugs such as large-molecule drugs, nucleic acid drugs, and cell therapies are highly dependent on precise delivery technologies. Alnylam, relying on its GalNac delivery technology, has a market value exceeding RMB 300 billion. Moderna, leveraging its lipid nanoparticle messenger RNA delivery platform, has a market value of over RMB 140 billion. The core logic of METiS TechBio is highly similar to these successful cases, and AI, serving as a differentiation accelerator, is expected to help the company achieve a curve overtaking within the constraints of international patent barriers.

It is worth noting that in its Series D financing round, METiS TechBio received RMB 400 million jointly led by the Beijing Medical and Health Industry Investment Fund and the Daxing District Industrial Investment Fund, and has been positioned as a pillar enterprise of Beijing's OpenCGT platform for the biopharmaceutical industry. The company is actively extending its AI nanodelivery technology into emerging areas such as animal health and anti-aging. In August 2025, it signed a letter of intent with a leading domestic pet health supply chain provider in China. This business model of platform plus products plus cross-sector expansion opens up more possibilities for long-term value creation.

It is precisely because METiS TechBio stands at a scarce node in the delivery revolution, while also possessing the efficiency-amplifying effect driven by AI, that a unique investment story has been created. The US$148 million cornerstone subscription is not an ordinary primary market arbitrage play, but a strategic allocation by global top-tier capital to the core asset of Chinese AI nanodelivery. The vote of confidence from BlackRock and others may provide a clear direction for the next phase of development in the AI drug discovery sector.