BIOHK2022: Hong Kong needs a more integrated and harmonised ecosystem to become a biotech fundraising hub, panellists say

Hong Kong is not integrated to a great extent with China and this is a major disadvantage, AffaMed Therapeutics executive says

The city should connect research work and companies interested in investing in biotechnology, Lake Bleu Capital’s Bin Li says

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From left, Bin Li of Lake Bleu Capital, Vijay Karwal of AffaMed Therapeutics, Donald Lung, CFO of Antengene and Yinxiang Wang, chairman and CEO of Jacobio Pharma, take part in a panel discussion on ‘Capital Market for Healthcare Post Pandemic’ at BIOHK2022 on Thursday. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:35pm, 15 Dec 2022Updated: 8:17pm, 15 Dec 2022

Hong Kong’s biotechnology sector needs a more integrated and harmonised ecosystem to develop into Asia’s largest biotechnology fundraising hub, panellists said on the second day of Hong Kong Biotechnology Organisation’s (HKBIO) BIOHK2022 convention.

“From a regulatory perspective, Hong Kong is not integrated to a great extent with [mainland China], which is a major disadvantage,” Vijay Karwal, chief financial officer at AffaMed Therapeutics, said at the “Capital Market for Healthcare Post Pandemic” round table on Thursday.

Drug developers were seeing a separate environment and “work that you do here [in Hong Kong] doesn’t necessarily give you easy access into the mainland market, which is vastly larger”, Karwal said. There are a large number of governments at the provincial and municipal level that offer attractive incentives for investment in mainland China, which are “really not mirrored here at all”, he added.

“Hong Kong is still quite a way away from becoming a major global hub for biotech research and development,” Karwal said.

Vijay Karwal, chief financial officer at AffaMed Therapeutics, at the round table on Thursday. Photo: Handout

The city is the world’s second-largest fundraising hub for biotechnology and the largest in Asia, according to Bloomberg. Biotechnology listings in the city raised US$12.6 billion last year compared with the United States’ record US$18 billion.

This has, in part, been facilitated by bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which introduced listing reforms in 2018 that opened the door to a wide range of biotechnology, new economy and innovative high-growth companies. This has resulted in more diversity among both primary and secondary listings, as well as initial public offerings by pre-revenue biotechnology companies.