Fosun-owned Henlius Biotech files for Hong Kong IPO

The company was established in 2010 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fosun Pharma, which remains the controlling shareholder with around 61%. There have been multiple rounds of pre-IPO investments in the past three years, amounting to more than $680 million, according to a prospectus. Over the course of these fundraising efforts, Henlius’ valuation has increased from $490 million to $2.96 billion.

The most recent round, which closed last month with $156.4 million in commitments, featured Loyal Valley and CICC. They contributed $42.6 million and $6.5 million, respectively. Their percentage ownership has not been disclosed. The pre-IPO investors collectively hold 19.84% of the company.

Henlius has more than 20 biologic drug candidates, the most advanced of which are biosimilars – almost identical copies of treatments developed by other companies that can be manufactured when patents on the original products expire. They are more complex than small molecule generic drugs. The Henlius biosimilars are monoclonal antibodies designed to trigger the immune system to kill cancer cells.

The company has one treatment expected to enter commercialization in early 2019 once the new drug application approval comes through. Four more – including three biosimilars – are in phase three clinical trials and a further five are in stages one or two. Henlius has entered into agreements with Fosun Pharma, which will see the latter assist with drug distribution.

Revenue came to RMB33.9 million ($4.9 million) in 2017, down from RMB38.1 million the previous year. Meanwhile, the net loss increased from RMB93 million to RMB372.8 million. As a result, Henlius is taking advantage of an amendment made to Hong Kong listing rules earlier this year that allows biotech companies to launch IPOs despite having minimal revenue and no profit.

The size and pricing for the Henlius offering have yet to be finalized. The filing comes as Shanghai Junshi Biosciences, another PE-backed Chinese drug developer, announced it would seek to raise up to HK$3.2 billion ($414 million) through a Hong Kong IPO. Several other biotech companies have already gone public in Hong Kong this year.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• IPO
• China
• CICC
• Loyal Valley Capital
• Pharmaceuticals