Lepu Biopharma Co. Ltd. started trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday, raising HK$904 million ($115.9 million) in an initial public offering. Trading opened at HK$7.13 per share and slid to HK$6.70 by midday before closing at HK$7.13.

After two years of record venture capital financing, which peaked during the first quarter of 2021 with a whopping $38.27 billion raised, investments in biopharma have started to drop off, and industry watchers are expecting a slower deal pace ahead. The same is expected for the IPO market, which saw a record 134 companies go public in 2021. Those trends, combined with big pharma’s hefty cash balances, could mean an M&A surge in 2022, though the availability of special purpose acquisition companies could continue to offer private firms an attractive alternative to a buyout.

Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. raised ¥3.48 billion ($547.9 million) in a Shanghai STAR Market IPO on Jan. 18 to support company R&D efforts and plans to build an antibody production plant. Though oversubscribed, the offering got a cool market reception, with shares plunging nearly 30% from a ¥32 open (US$27.96), then closing at ¥24.50 on the first day of trading before recovering slightly to ¥27.40 on Jan. 20.

Three biopharma IPOs rounded out the first week of the new year, with Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cincor Pharma Inc. and Vigil Neuroscience Inc. all pricing new Nasdaq issues Dec. 7. Taken together, the offerings raised about $482 million, though all received cool receptions, with only the most mature among them, Amylyx, (NASDAQ:AMLX) holding its ground at midday.

While the $118.3 billion raised by biopharma companies in 2021 through public and private transactions is 12% lower than the amount raised the prior year, it still represents an impressive financings record, led primarily by IPOs and venture capital rounds.

DUBLIN – A strong performance in the final quarter of 2021 pushed equity investment in European biotech firms engaged in discovering and developing therapeutics to a new record of $15.193 billion, a 19.8% increase on last year’s total of $12.682 billion. European biotech firms have now set a new investment benchmark for each of the past five years.

Sirnaomics Ltd. became the first RNA therapeutics company to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) with a $64 million initial public offering. Its shares (HKEX:2277) have since surged, rising to HK$93.90 ($12.04) on Jan. 4 following their debut at HK$65.90 per share.

With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) imposing stricter regulatory requirements on listing companies, more Chinese companies are likely to decide to list on stock exchanges closer to home.