Resurgence of Oligonucleotide Therapeutics: Multiple Chinese Biotechs File for Hong Kong IPOs

At the beginning of 2026, Ribo Life Science was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming another player in the small nucleic acid drug sector in Hong Kong stocks; Sino Biopharmaceutical acquired all shares of small nucleic acid drug company Hajiya Bio for 1.2 billion yuan. One IPO plus one acquisition have ignited the capital market enthusiasm for small nucleic acid drugs.

As the small nucleic acid drug industry shows a clear trend towards commercialization, the investment and financing market has also heated up. The Securities Times reporter learned that several small nucleic acid drug companies have submitted applications for an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Including those still in the process of preparing their application materials, the number of small nucleic acid drug companies going public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year is expected to further increase.

Ribo Life Science CFO and Secretary of the Board, Su Zhang, told reporters from Securities Times that global small nucleic acid drugs have become "the third wave of modern pharmaceuticals". In China, the field has moved from technical exploration to the clinical transformation and commercial preparation stage. The warm reception of Ribo Life Science's Hong Kong stock listing by global capital confirms the value of China's track.

Small nucleic acid drugs, as oligonucleotide molecules with high specificity, can precisely target and silence disease-causing genes, treating diseases by regulating gene expression. Compared with small molecule drugs, they have the advantages of low dosing frequency and abundant targets. For example, in the case of hypertension, currently, small molecule drugs need to be taken daily, but injectable small nucleic acid drugs may only require one injection every six months. In the eyes of industry insiders, small nucleic acid drugs provide a completely new method for treating hereditary rare diseases and chronic diseases, and are expected to become the third major drug category after small molecule chemical drugs and antibody drugs.

Yu Mengke, a pharmaceuticals and biotechnology analyst at CITIC Securities Research and Development Department, told reporters from the Securities Times that the key technology GalNAc, which has stimulated the development of the small nucleic acid industry, had already appeared in 2014. The reason why the industry's popularity has significantly increased now is that the global small nucleic acid drug industry is achieving multi-dimensional breakthroughs. From a commercialization perspective, the earliest batch of small nucleic acid drugs were mainly approved for rare disease fields, with limited drug sales. However, recent drugs like Amvuttra overseas have shown sales peaks, with market potential expected to exceed $5 billion. In terms of indications, 2026 will be an important verification period for indication breakthroughs, with initial validation already achieved for weight loss indications. Technologically speaking, extrahepatic delivery is gradually breaking through.

In China, the R&D pipeline for small nucleic acid drugs is also growing rapidly. According to statistics from the Insight database, as of October 2025, there are over 120 R&D pipelines for small nucleic acid drugs in China, a large number of which are in the clinical application/Clinical Phase I stage, accounting for about 24% of nearly 500 global R&D pipelines.

As the industry heats up, the pace of small nucleic acid pharmaceutical companies entering the capital market is also accelerating. "We have clearly felt the activity of Hong Kong IPOs. Apart from Ribo Life Science, which has just gone public, several other companies have also initiated the process of listing on the Hong Kong stock market," said Yu Mengke.

Securities Times reporters learned from multiple sources that currently, Chinese small nucleic acid drug companies such as Sirius Therapeutics and Argo Biopharma have submitted their applications for an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Among them, Sirius Therapeutics has made a public application, while companies like Argo Biopharma have secretly submitted their applications. A broker expects that, including small nucleic acid companies that are preparing their application materials, there will be about five or six small nucleic acid drug companies to be welcomed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year.

M&A Market Sees New Breakthrough. On January 13, Sino Biopharm announced that it would acquire Hegiea Bio, a small nucleic acid drug company, for RMB 1.2 billion in an all-cash deal. This marks the first acquisition in China’s small nucleic acid sector initiated by a large pharmaceutical company.

Primary Market Investment and Financing Also Start to Heat Up. At 8 a.m. on January 21, He Xinggang, Chief Investment Officer and Partner of Hony Capital, concluded discussions with an early-stage project team in the small nucleic acid field. In an interview with the Securities Times, He Xing expressed: "We previously invested in the leading global CDMO enterprise in the small nucleic acid sector and will also support newly established projects with a positive attitude."

He Xing observed that once the small nucleic acid drug trend takes off, both market-oriented funds and state-owned funds are interested in investing in the small nucleic acid sector. "We are also accelerating our layout in this sector. We previously incubated a domestic small nucleic acid lipid-lowering injection company, starting from the pre-clinical stage, and it has now entered Phase II clinical trials." He Xing also suggested that investment in the small nucleic acid drug sector should remain rational, focusing on cutting-edge technology areas such as extrahepatic delivery rather than the already competitive intrahepatic delivery field. "This is in line with the trend of drug development; we cannot always follow others."