Biotech Firms Rush to Hong Kong IPOs as Stock Exchange Opens New Gateway for Pre-revenue Companies
Work | Self-Portrait During Eye Disease 2
Author |Edvard Munch
Medical History in Pictures | Issue 20180826
This year, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) plans to amend its listing rules to establish an IPO channel for biotechnology companies that are not yet profitable or revenue-generating. This represents one of the most significant reforms to the HKEX’s listing regime in nearly 25 years. The opening of this policy window undoubtedly paves another major avenue for equity financing on public markets for numerous R&D-driven enterprises in mainland China, such as Ascentage Pharma, whose products are still in clinical development. What is your perspective on this?
Healthcare is a slow-moving industry, yet it boasts a substantial market size with highly pronounced demand. Changling Capital seeks to identify the drivers of future healthcare transformation. Future healthcare will serve as a critical “infrastructure” within the market. At the core of Changling Capital’s investment thesis is the pursuit of synergies between technological advancements and business model innovations to propel comprehensive change across the healthcare and medical industry.
Tuesday |Who Was the King of Public Hospital IT Project Bidding in the First Half of 2018?
Significant differences also exist in the demand for system categories among hospitals of different tiers. For tertiary hospitals, particularly Grade 3A hospitals, clinical systems constitute the absolute core of IT infrastructure development. In contrast, while secondary hospitals also prioritize clinical systems, their focus extends more broadly to comprehensive informatization overhauls. This indicates substantial market opportunities in this sector. Primary care institutions and ungraded hospitals have fewer informatization projects, which indirectly reflects the very low level of digital maturity in public hospitals at these levels.
VCBeat has observed that Pfizer is exploring digital innovation across its entire business process through in-house development, partnerships, and investments, with initiatives spanning AI-driven drug discovery, electronic data capture, clinical data management, digital marketing, patient empowerment, and digital supply chain solutions. From concept to implementation, Pfizer offers new strategic insights into digital innovation for large pharmaceutical companies.
The upstream and midstream markets are essentially generating data. To make this data accessible and actionable, however, relies on downstream interpretation and analysis. This has been a key strategic focus for Berry Genomics since its initial public offering.
Early-stage cognitive assessment is highly effective in managing dementia-related disorders. In China, many patients are already in the stage of dysexecutive mild cognitive impairment (dMCI) or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the time they undergo diagnostic evaluation, making early screening essential. For dementia-type diseases, only early detection and timely intervention can delay the onset of AD.
Accenture’s report, “Digital Health Technology Vision 2018,” explores five trends and underscores the importance of building trust. These five trends are: Citizen AI, Extended Reality, Data Authenticity, Collaborative Scale, and the Intelligent Internet of Things. VCBeat has provided a full translation of the report.
Keywords: Pharmaceuticals
Jack Ma Doubles Down on New Retail in Pharmaceuticals, Breaking into the 30-Minute “Medicine Delivery Circle”
On August 20, Alibaba Health joined forces with over 102 stores from multiple pharmacy chains in Hangzhou—including Dongrentang Pharmacy, Nepstar Health Pharmacy, Jiuzhou Pharmacy, and Tiantianhao Pharmacy—to provide standardized delivery services supported by Cainiao’s “Dianwoda” logistics network. The service guarantees 30-minute delivery during daytime hours and one-hour delivery at night, with a commitment to compensate customers for any late deliveries. Meanwhile, Alibaba Health has also partnered with hotel groups; guests staying at Junting Hotels and Home Inn can now enjoy medicine collection and delivery services provided through the front desk.
China’s First Targeted Drug for Ovarian Cancer Approved
On August 23, AstraZeneca and MSD China jointly announced that their PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) had received marketing approval from the National Medical Products Administration. This marks the first targeted novel drug for ovarian cancer to be launched in China.
Keywords: Listing in Hong Kong
Hua Medicine Passes Listing Hearing
On August 20, Hua Medicine passed the listing hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), planning to raise approximately USD 200 million (about HKD 1.56 billion). Hua Medicine submitted its listing application to the HKEX in June this year. As one of the pre-revenue biopharmaceutical companies listing in Hong Kong, Hua Medicine mainly focuses on the development of diabetes products.
Ascentage Submits IPO Application
According to disclosures by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Ascentage Pharma, an innovative drug R&D company, submitted its listing application on August 20, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup serving as joint sponsors. Ascentage did not disclose the specific amount of funds to be raised. In the application documents, Ascentage introduced its new drug development pipeline, noting that several of its novel drugs are currently in clinical trials, primarily focusing on innovative therapies for cancer, hepatitis B, and age-related diseases.
Following BeiGene, Zai Lab Plans Hong Kong IPO
August 22 News: Sources indicated that Zai Lab, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company listed on Nasdaq last year, is planning to list in Hong Kong. This will make it the second U.S.-listed Chinese biotech firm to return to Hong Kong following the implementation of the city’s new listing rules.
Mabwell Therapeutics Submits Listing Application
On August 22, Mabwell Therapeutics officially filed its listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to the company’s filing documents, Mabwell Therapeutics is a leading biopharmaceutical enterprise in China, specializing in the research, development, and production of monoclonal antibody drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company’s drug candidate pipeline comprises nine monoclonal antibodies, including three core products in Phase III clinical trials: CMAB007 (omalizumab), CMAB009 (cetuximab), and CMAB008 (infliximab). Additionally, two other candidates, CMAB809 (trastuzumab) and CMAB819 (nivolumab), have received approval to commence clinical trials.
Keywords: Internet Hospital
Qilekang Internet Hospital Renamed “Shiliu Yunyi,” Focusing More on Chronic Disease Follow-up Consultation Platform
On August 18, Qilekang Internet Hospital was renamed “Shiliu Yunyi” (Pomegranate Cloud Medicine). Founder Shi Zhenyang stated that the choice of “Pomegranate” as the new brand name reflects his high hopes for every doctor, patient, and partner on the platform: enabling doctors to fully realize their professional value, providing patients with the most attentive diagnostic and treatment services, and fostering resource sharing, mutual assistance, and win-win cooperation with partners.
Keywords: Personnel
Liu Qian Returns to Pharma, Appointed Vice President of AstraZeneca China
On August 23, Feng Ji, General Manager of AstraZeneca China, announced to employees that Liu Qian would officially assume the role of Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of Commercial Strategy and Operational Excellence. Based in Shanghai, Liu will report directly to Feng Ji.
Capital Dynamics
Changling Capital, Jiang Xiaodong
In the current healthcare industry, the most prominent trend is being “customer (patient)-centric.” Evidence-based outcomes are driving the shift from fee-for-service to value-based payment models. This transition offers greater choices for patients, physicians, and payers alike, with these choices relying on real-world outcomes to inform reform. This is the primary force truly driving transformative change across the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry...
Changling Capital focuses on early-stage healthcare companies. At the stage when a company is not yet fully formed, investment criteria rely more heavily on the chosen sector and the founder’s determination. Regardless of whether viewed from the perspective of medicine or healthcare, the three fundamental goals of healthcare—improving quality, reducing costs, and expanding accessibility—must become increasingly evidence-based. I believe that investment opportunities in healthcare services lie in service upgrades that address strong demands that are either unmet or inadequately met. (Source: VCBeat)
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1. Game-based intervention can improve behavioral and neurological functions in boys with ADHD
A recent study published in Nature shows that game-based interventions using brain-computer interface technology can help normalize the neural networks of children with ADHD, promote brain development, and improve their behavior.
Researchers compared 18 boys with ADHD (mean age: 9 years) who underwent an eight-week game-based therapy using brain-computer interface (BCI) technology with 11 boys with ADHD (mean age: 9.45 years). The experimental results demonstrated improvements in brain functions associated with attention as well as in ADHD symptoms.
Source: https://www.mobihealthnews.com
2. Victoria Plans to Establish a Robotic Academy for Training Surgeons
The Victorian Government recently announced plans to establish Australia’s first Robotics Institute, designed to train surgeons in performing minimally invasive procedures for prostate cancer and other conditions using advanced technologies such as virtual reality simulators. By providing feedback on surgeons’ techniques and errors during simulated operations, this technology can effectively enhance surgical precision and patient survival rates, while reducing infection rates and accelerating recovery. The medical robotics institute is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
Source: https://www.healthcareitnews.com
3. Smartphones Can Address Issues of Patient Data Matching and Interoperability
A recent report from the RAND Corporation indicates that healthcare institutions can leverage mobile devices to securely and accurately share medical records, thereby enabling more precise patient data matching and addressing interoperability challenges. The biometric capabilities of smartphones, combined with corresponding mobile applications, can help establish patient authorization systems that provide services such as phone number verification, exchange of electronic health records (EHRs), and registration of up-to-date identity information.
Source: https://www.healthcareitnews.com
Ant Financial & Fidelity International: 2018 China Retirement Survey
On August 14, 2018, at the “Seeing the Future of Pension Investment” forum held in Shanghai, Ant Financial and Fidelity International jointly released the 2018 China Pension Outlook Survey Report. The report revealed that more than half of young people under the age of 35 had not yet started saving for retirement. China’s younger generation also demonstrated only a superficial understanding of effective pension investment strategies. When purchasing pension investment products, fewer than one-third of respondents indicated that they would prioritize long-term returns.
PwC: 2017 M&A Review – China’s Medical Device Industry
This report summarizes the mergers and acquisitions in the medical device industry in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao Special Administrative Region in 2017, presenting them intuitively in the form of big data.
IBM Institute for Business Value: Team-Based Healthcare—How the Life Sciences Industry Can Win with Blockchain
This report finds that some life sciences companies have begun to adopt or plan to adopt blockchain technology to enable personalized patient engagement, reduce counterfeit drugs, and improve R&D efficiency.
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