Suzhou Ribo Life Science Files for Hong Kong IPO Following Over $2 Billion BD Deal with Boehringer Ingelheim

Apr 27, 2025 17:21 CST Updated 17:21

Ribo Life Science

Small Nucleic Acid Drug Developer

—Applications for various awards are gradually opening, stay tuned—

On April 25, 2025, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's official website showed that Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Ribo Life Science")Ribo Life Science"）submitted an application for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC and Citibank as sponsors.

FigureSource: HKEX Official Website

Ribo Life Science filed for the STAR Market on December 29, 2020, and was accepted, but later terminated its STAR Market IPO push in 2021.

The prospectus shows that Ribo Life Science is a global leader in the research and development of small nucleic acid drugs, with a particular focus on siRNA therapies. Established in 2007, it was one of the earliest pioneers in this field. Ribo Life Science’s mission is to spearhead the development of innovative therapies to revolutionize the treatment of diseases with significant unmet needs, including cardiovascular, metabolic, kidney, and liver diseases.

Currently,Ribo Life Science has built one of the largest siRNA drug pipelines globally, with six self-developed drug assets in clinical trials, covering seven indications related to cardiovascular, metabolic, kidney, and liver diseases, four of which are in Phase 2 clinical trials.

FigureSource: Ribo Life Science Prospectus (same below)

According to Frost & Sullivan, its core product RBD4059 (an siRNA targeting FXI) is the world's first and also the fastest-progressing siRNA drug in clinical development for the treatment of thrombotic diseases.

In addition to the core product RBD4059, Ribo Life Science is also advancing two key products, RBD5044 and RBD1016.

Specifically, RBD5044 is the world's second siRNA targeting APOC3 to enter clinical development. APOC3 is a protein that plays a key role in lipid metabolism. With its potent and sustained effect on HBsAg, RBD1016 stands as a crucial pillar therapy in the future combination approach for achieving functional cure of CHB, and it is also a leading siRNA candidate for the treatment of CHD.

In addition to its clinical product pipeline, Ribo Life Science also maintains over 20 preclinical projects planned to advance into the clinical development stage.

Leveraging its innovative capabilities in the small nucleic acid drug field, during the reporting period, Ribo Life Science reached two BD collaborations with Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim and Qilu Pharmaceutical: the former will jointly develop a small nucleic acid innovative therapy for non-alcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH) under the agreement, with a total transaction value exceeding 2 billion US dollars; the latter collaboration involves licensing the development, production, and commercialization rights of the anti-PCSK9 small nucleic acid new drug RBD7022 in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao) to Qilu Pharmaceutical. Ribo Life Science will receive an upfront payment and milestone payments totaling over 700 million RMB, as well as royalty rates in the high double digits.

These BD collaborations also constitute the main source of income for Ribo Life Science at present.The prospectus shows that Ribo Life Science's revenue mainly comes from licensing and cooperation arrangements. In 2023 and 2024, Ribo Life Science's operating revenue was 44,000 yuan and 143 million yuan respectively, with corresponding research and development expenses of 316 million yuan and 280 million yuan, and corresponding net losses of 437 million yuan and 281 million yuan.

The prospectus shows that Ribo Life Science completed multiple rounds of financing and share transfers before filing, with investors includingMultiple well-known institutions such as Legend Capital, SDIC Innovation, China Fund, and Panlin Capital. After the share transfer in 2025, the post-investment valuation of Ribo Life Science will be 3.58 billion yuan.

Ribo Life Science Equity Structure

The prospectus shows that, prior to the Hong Kong listing, in the shareholder structure of Ribo Life Science, Dr. Zicai Liang, Ms. Hua Mo, Professor Zhen Xi, Professor Lihe Zhang, and others acted in concert, collectively controlling approximately 30.84% of the shares. Among them, Dr. Zicai Liang is the founder of Ribo Life Science, serving as Chairman, Executive Director, and Chief Executive Officer. His resume is as follows:

Dr. Liang Zicai, 60 years old, has served as the Chairman of the Board since the company's establishment on January 18, 2007. He has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer since September 1, 2017, and was transferred to the position of Executive Director on March 18, 2025. Dr. Liang has held key positions in six subsidiaries of the Group, including (i) serving as the Chairman of Kunshan Ribo Jule since 2012; (ii) serving as the sole director of Ribo Hong Kong since 2013; (iii) serving as a director of Beijing Ribo Kaituo since 2016; (iv) serving as a director of Ribo Australia since 2021; (v) serving as a director of Ribocure AB since 2022; and (vi) serving as the Chairman of Xingbo Run since 2023. Dr. Liang is primarily responsible for the Group’s corporate strategy, technological innovation, and fundraising.

Dr. Liang has accumulated over 35 years of extensive experience in research, development, and management within the life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. From January 2006 to August 2017, Dr. Liang worked at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Peking University, serving as Director of the Research Laboratory, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, and Tenured Professor. During the same period, he also concurrently held positions as Director of the Education Committee, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the institute, and a member of the Degree Committee of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University. From 2017 to 2020, he was on extended leave to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Dr. Liang has held multiple part-time positions in various biotechnology companies, educational institutions, and research organizations, including: (i) serving as a director of Lepton Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Israel from June 2021 to March 2023; (ii) serving as a guest professor at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University from November 2019 to November 2021; (iii) serving as an independent director of Chengdu Berry Genomics Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Chengdu Tianxing Instrument Co., Ltd.) from August 2017 to July 2020; (iv) serving as a director of Suzhou Wenqu Bio-Microsystems Co., Ltd. from January 2013 to April 2019; (v) serving as a director of Kunshan Wenqu Bio-Microsystems Co., Ltd. from March 2011 to March 2017.

(vi) Served as the Vice Chairman of the RNA Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from November 2012 to October 2020; (vii) Served as a director of Kunshan Industrial Technology Research Institute Small Nucleic Acid Biotechnology Research Institute Co., Ltd. from July 2009 to September 2017; (viii) Served as a member of the Technical Committee of Jiangsu Province (Kunshan) Industrial Technology Research Institute from November 2010 to November 2015; and (ix) Served as a professor at the National Human Genome Research Center North from October 2002 to December 2005.

Currently, Dr. Liang also holds positions outside of this group, including (i) serving as a director of Suzhou Yida Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (a company specializing in the research and production of electroporation instruments) since November 2014, and (ii) serving as the chairman of the Jiangsu Small Nucleic Acid Industry Innovation Alliance since January 2010.

Dr. Liang received his Bachelor of Zoology and Master of Entomology degrees from Nankai University, China, in July 1985 and June 1988, respectively. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Physiological Fungi from Uppsala University, Sweden, in October 1995. Afterward, Dr. Liang served as a research fellow in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University, USA, until November 1998.

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