Two biopharma companies entered the public markets on July 14, with Apogee Therapeutics Inc. pricing a $300 million IPO, the second largest U.S. debut this year, and Sagimet Biosciences Inc. raising $85 million. Apogee, of San Francisco, and Waltham, Mass., is advancing APG-777 and APG-808, which are in development for atopic dermatitis (AD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while San Mateo, Calif.-based Sagimet’s lead candidate is the FASN inhibitor denifanstat for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. raised HK$1.36 billion (US$174 million) in an IPO in Hong Kong to support its push into the increasingly competitive antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) market in China.
Although biopharma investors pulled back in 2022 – largely a response to freely flowing funds the previous two years during COVID-19 surges – they are cautiously returning to the sector, as the industry has raised $32.8 billion in the first half of 2023, a 23.6% jump over the same period last year.
Having raised HK$791 million (US$101 million) through an IPO in Hong Kong, Laekna Inc., which develops therapies for cancer and liver fibrosis, now plans to focus on further developing its two lead products in-licensed from Novartis and push its pipeline of 14 products forward.
Edding Group Co. Ltd. announced June 23 it filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange – news that comes amid a steep drop in China’s biopharma IPO market forecasting sluggish activity in a near-frozen “capital winter.”
Azitra Inc. made its debut on the public market June 16, in the hopes of raising a relatively modest $7.5 million to enable it to fund clinical trials, manufacturing and R&D, as well as working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Cutia Therapeutics Ltd. raised HK$465 million (US$65 million) in a Hong Kong IPO on June 12, with almost half of the proceeds going toward furthering its lead product to treat adipose accumulation. Cutia’s shares moved a little higher on the first day of trading, opening at HK$21.80, rising 0.46% and closing at HK$21.95.
After a steep drop in biopharmaceutical IPOs in the first half of 2023, investors have come to expect that the slowdown in new listings of Chinese companies will continue for some time. Without the key influx of cash that equity financing can generate, biopharma companies are ramping up other activities to generate cash, particularly by out-licensing drugs with the potential for global expansion.
Beijing Luzhu Biotechnology Co. Ltd. raised a net HK$242 million (US$31 million) from an IPO in Hong Kong but shares in the developer of vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases plummeted on the first day of trading. Luzhu’s shares (HK:2480) started trading on May 8 at HK$31.50 and fell about 30% throughout the day to close at HK$22. Founded in 2001, Luzhu has yet to turn a profit. It recorded net losses of ¥725.2 million (US$92 million) in 2022 and ¥539.4 million in 2021.
In what has been described as one of the slowest, closed-window public markets in recent years, Acelyrin Inc. priced an upsized IPO, raising $540 million, the fifth highest amount for a U.S. IPO by a traditional biopharma company to date. Despite industry IPOs raising only $628 million throughout the first four months of 2023 – the lowest amount in 10 years, Acelyrin’s IPO suggests that there is still a strong investor appetite ready and waiting for innovative technologies with solid data.
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