A tightening of rules for biotech listings on the Shanghai STAR Market may have contributed to a visible cool-down in biotech IPOs, with fewer listings in Chinese stock markets in the first half of 2022.
Shanghai Microport Medbot (Group) Co. Ltd. plans to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on the Sci-Tech Board to raise ¥2.8 billion (US$420 million) to progress its surgical robots. The funds raised from the IPO would go toward research and development of the surgical robots, manufacturing, marketing and academic promotion, as well as replenishing working capital. The company also plans shareholder dividend distribution plans within three years following the IPO listing.
After listing on the Nasdaq market on May 18, Hong Kong-based diagnostics and genetic testing company Prenetics Group Ltd. saw its shares fall nearly 30% in early trading, dropping from $8.40 per share on listing to $5.70 by the end of trading May 19. Trading under the ticker PRE, Prenetics formed a merger with Artisan Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, which was founded by entrepreneur Adrian Cheng. The transaction values Prenetics at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion, making the company the first Hong Kong unicorn to list on the Nasdaq.
The music still goes on for biotech investment – it’s just not as loud and vibrant as it was during the heady days of 2020 and 2021, according to experts at this year’s LSX World Congress in London. After the rush to invest in biotech during the last two years, it has become an uphill battle to raise money – but the message from several panel experts at the event is that there is still hope.
IPOs continue to be sluggish but two companies, Pepgen Inc. and Bausch & Lomb Corp., that began trading May 6 managed to sidestep the turbulence despite having to lower their expectations before the market opened.
IPOs continue to be sluggish but two companies, Pepgen Inc. and Bausch & Lomb Corp., that began trading May 6 managed to sidestep the turbulence despite having to lower their expectations before the market opened. Pepgen stock (NASDAQ:PEPG) closed at $12.89 per share May 6, up 7.4% on the day. Bausch & Lomb also had a solid IPO launch May 6 as shares (NYSE:BLCO) closed 11.1% upward at $20 each.
As many biopharmas rethink plans to go public on less-than-welcoming U.S. markets, Hillevax Inc. forged ahead, pricing an upsized IPO April 28, offering 11.8 million shares at $17 apiece, the midpoint of its previously proposed range, for gross proceeds of about $200 million. That’s the highest amount raised in a U.S. IPO so far in 2022, which saw only nine companies go public on Nasdaq during the first quarter.
Biopharma financings for the first quarter of 2022 are at a five-year low, with 65.8% less money and 53% fewer transactions than a year ago. The industry raised $13.1 billion through 249 financings, compared with $38.3 billion from 529 transactions in 2021.
Software Machines and Adaptive Implants in Orthopedics (SMAIO) SA raised $10 million on the Paris Euronext Growth market. The offer price was set at $6.66 a share. “Thanks to this IPO, we will now be able to ramp commercial development of our I-Kontrol arthrodesis platform in Europe and secure a foothold in the United States,” Philippe Roussouly, CEO of SMAIO SA, told BioWorld.
Biopharma financings for the first quarter of 2022 are at a five-year low, with 65.8% less money and 53% fewer transactions than a year ago. The industry raised $13.1 billion through 249 financings, compared with $38.3 billion from 529 transactions in 2021.
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