HONG KONG – Vuno Inc. saw its shares soar on their first day of trading on the Kosdaq board with a $33.4 million IPO. The shares closed at ₩32,150 (US$28.89) on Feb. 26. Vuno had priced the 1.8 million new shares on offer at ₩21,000, exceeding its desired range of ₩15,000 to ₩19,500 and raising ₩37.8 billion, or $33.4 million, to boot.
HONG KONG – The third pre-revenue med-tech firm to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in a month, New Horizon Health Technology Co. Ltd. raised HK$1.9 billion (US$245.08 million) in an IPO that began trading Thursday, Feb. 18. New Horizon placed 76.6 million shares at HK$26.66 apiece and said part of the funds will help the company commercialize its FIT-DNA test Coloclear to screen for colorectal cancer.
Humacyte Inc., which develops universally implantable, bioengineered human tissue at commercial scale, has agreed to go public via a merger with Alpha Healthcare Acquisition Corp. (AHAC), a blank-check company led by Rajiv Shukla. Upon closing of the deal, AHAC will be renamed Humacyte Inc. and will be led by Humacyte’s current CEO, Laura Niklason. The combined company’s stock is expected to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol HUMA.
Suzhou Basecare Medical Corp. Ltd., a genetic test developer for assisted reproduction, raised HK$1.82 billion (US$235 million) in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Feb. 8, with shares opening nearly 10% higher. The IPO will support the company to continue to develop pre-implantation genetic (PGT) testing products for assisted reproduction.
Infectious diseases diagnostics company Lucira Health Inc. launched an IPO of 9 million shares of common stock at $17 per share, for expected gross proceeds of $153 million. Friday’s Wall Street debut was a show of confidence, upsized from an original plan to offer 7.8 million shares at $15 to $17. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to acquire up to an additional 1,350,000 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.
Chinese heart valve specialist Microport Cardioflow Medtech Corp. (HKEX:2160) launched an IPO in Hong Kong on Feb. 4, raising HK$2.5 billion (US$324 million) by issuing 205.62 million shares at HK$12.20 apiece. With J.P. Morgan, Citi and CICC backing the IPO, the stock opened at HK$21.50, up 76% from the offer price. The pre-revenue med-tech firm, spun off from Microport Scientific Corp. in 2020, develops transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) products for valvular heart diseases, and is especially known for its Vitaflow series.
TORONTO – It took the Vancouver, British Columbia-based biotech three times, but before the week in mid-December was over, Abcellera Biologics Inc. had finally closed its IPO on the Nasdaq, hoovering up gross proceeds of $555.5 million.
PERTH, Australia – Med-tech company Control Bionics began trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:CBL) Dec. 7 in an IPO that saw the company raise AU$15 million (US$11.25 million). Melbourne-headquartered Control Bionics develops assistive technologies (AT) that allow people with severe disabilities to communicate and control electronic devices using electromyography (EMG).
PERTH, Australia – Gbs Inc. reported filing an initial public offering on the Nasdaq for $20 million, as the company looks to launch the first noninvasive SARS-Cov-2 test. A subsidiary of Sydney-based The Iq Group Ltd. (NSX:IQG), Delaware-based Gbs has developed a biosensor platform that enables real-time diagnostic point-of-care (POC) tests, and the funds raised will enable the company to launch its SARS- CoV-2 test and a saliva glucose test.
Outset Medical Inc. closed its Nasdaq IPO Thursday with gross proceeds of approximately of $277.9 million. The IPO, which launched Tuesday, included nearly 10.3 million shares of common stock at $27 per share and the full exercise of underwriters’ option to purchase more than 1.3 million additional shares. Shares of the San Jose, Calif.-based company’s stock, which is trading under the ticker OM, soared to more than $60 on the first day of trading amid enthusiasm for its portable dialysis machine.