Diabetes company Hua Medicine Ltd. (Shanghai, China) filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange underwritten by Goldman Sachs and CLSA Capital Markets.
Hua is the second biotech company to file for a Hong Kong listing since Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) opened a new prerevenue biotech chapter on April 30. Antiviral play Ascletis Pharma Inc. (Hangzhou, China) is also planning a listing, with Goldman Sachs among its underwriters (see BioCentury Extra, May 7).
Hua initially contemplated a U.S. IPO, but reconsidered based on the HKEX changes. EVP and CFO George Lin told BioCentury in January that Hua was aiming to raise $150 million in an IPO in 2H18. The company subsequently declined to comment on reports that it would seek $400 million in the listing (see BioCentury, Jan. 25).
The new chapter is part of a modernization campaign by the exchange aimed at keeping innovative companies at home. The changes introduce a huge investor base to biotech's risk-reward dynamics (see BioCentury, March 16).
Hua is conducting Phase III trials in China of lead asset dorzagliatin (HMS5552), as monotherapy and in combination with metformin, to treat Type II diabetes. The company expects data in 2H19 and hopes to submit an NDA for the glucokinase (GCK; GK) activator to China's State Drug Administration in 2020.
Hua has exclusive, worldwide rights to the dorzagliatin from Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) under a 2012 deal.
In March, Hua revealed that it had raised a combined $117.4 million in its series D and E rounds (see BioCentury Extra, March 27).