Hong Kong-based biotech Insilico Medicine shifts IPO plan to city from New York
- While Insilico has not announced an IPO timetable or amount, sources say the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park-based firm hopes to raise US$200 million
- The company had previously planned to raise some US$300 million, Bloomberg reported in November 2021
Hong Kong-based biotech company Insilico Medicine has set its sights on an initial public offering in the city, shelving its earlier New York fundraising plan, as the start-up seeks capital to finance clinical trials of drugs discovered and designed by artificial intelligence.
While details such as the IPO timetable or the amount have not been disclosed, the company in an exchange filing on Tuesday named Morgan Stanley, China International Capital Corporation and BNP Paribas Securities Asia as its overall coordinators.
The IPO hopes to raise US$200 million, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company had previously filed confidentially for an IPO in the US that was expected to raise some US$300 million, Bloomberg reported in November 2021. The plans, however, did not materialise.
“We are a truly global company with R&D centres in many countries and regions,” said CEO Alex Zhavoronkov. “But Hong Kong is where we discover our targets – the most important part of drug discovery and I built an expert team to focus on this and to become the best in the world in this area.”
Zhavoronkov, however, said he could not comment on the listing.
The company, based in Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, raised US$60 million from its fourth round of funding in June last year. Investors in the series D round included existing shareholders Warburg Pincus, B Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Bold Capital Partners, Pavilion Capital and others.
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The previous year, Insilico raised US$255 million in its series C round, including funds from the venture capital arm of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Sequoia Capital China.
A flurry of biotech companies have recently announced IPO plans in Hong Kong, after a relatively quiet first half.
Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Pharmaceutical, which undertakes R&D and produces novel drugs in China, announced on Wednesday that it would raise US$208.6 million in the city.
The company is selling 22.44 million shares at a maximum price of HK$72.80 each, according to its term sheet. Goldman Sachs and Citic Securities are the joint sponsors. Trading is set to commence on July 11.
Stock markets in mainland China dominated IPO fundraisings in the first quarter, accounting for half of the total proceeds globally, according to PwC.
