Pharmas hop on secondary listings bandwagon

Bloomberg and staff reporter

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals has applied to list its shares in Hong Kong, adding to the growing number of publicly traded mainland Chinese firms looking to have their stocks traded in the city.

The company is betting that adding a Hong Kong listing would make it easier for foreign funds to invest in the company. Hengrui's share sale could fetch at least HK$15.6 billion, insiders have said.

Shanghai-listed Hengrui focuses on treatments for tumors, with 17 innovative drugs and a market capitalization of more than 280 billion yuan (HK$296.70 billion). Its net profit was 4.62 billion yuan (HK$4.9 billion) in the first nine months of last year, 32.98 percent up, on an 18.67-percent increase in revenue to 20.19 billion yuan, according to its prospectus.

Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Huatai Securities are arranging the deal.

Meanwhile, another pharmaceutical company, Mabwell (Shanghai) Bioscience has also submitted its listing application.

Founded in 2017, the company mainly develops drugs for oncology and age-related diseases in such areas as immunology, ophthalmology and orthopedics.

It was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market, a trading platform for science and technology-focused mainland companies, in January 2022.

The company reported a net loss of 861.46 million yuan in the first 10 months of last year, widening by 18.83 percent, while revenue rose by 56.96 percent to 159.62 million yuan.

The drug manufacturer secured 124 patents and submitted 239 applications globally, including 22 patents and 20 applications concerning core products.

In other news, Chinese toy maker Bloks closed its retail book yesterday.

A source said Bloks plans to price its shares at HK$60.35, the upper end of the offering range, with the total fundraising amount expected to rise to HK$1.67 billion after being oversubscribed by 5,724 times.