PE-backed Akeso Biopharma targets Hong Kong IPO

The company's largest institutional backer is GTJA Investment Group, which has an 8.22% stake. The healthcare specialist led a RMB200 million ($28.7 million) Series B round in May 2017. This was followed by rounds of RMB150 million and $126 million last year. The latter was led by Loyal Valley Capital and Sino Biopharm. Their current interests are 3.23% and 2.15%, respectively.

According to Akeso's prospectus, it has a pipeline of more than 20 drugs under development, including 10 at the clinical stage. The most prominent is AK104, which it is hoped will become one of a new generation tumor immunotherapy treatments. The combination therapy is undergoing phase two trials in China.

The company has one oncology drug - AK105 or Penpulimab - in phase three trials. It is being developed under a joint venture with Chia Tai Tianqing, a subsidiary of Sino Biopharm, which has one of China’s largest pharmaceutical sales forces.

Another treatment, AK107, was out-licensed to Merck for a total consideration of up to $200 million. It marked the first time a China-based biotech company out-licensed a monoclonal antibody it had discovered internally to a global leading pharmaceutical player.

Akeso is still loss-making, which is why it will join the growing list of Chinese candidates to seek an IPO in Hong Kong under provisions that allow listings by zero-revenue biotech companies. Net losses for the nine months ended September 2019 came to RMB145.3 million, up from RMB82 million a year earlier, primarily due to R&D expenses. For 2018 as a whole, the loss came to RMB154.3 million.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• IPO
• China
• Pharmaceuticals
• Loyal Valley Capital
• GTJA Investment Group