By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Keymed Biosciences Inc. (HK:2162) made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and raised HK$2.94 billion ($378.48 million) in the process.
Keymed’s Hong Kong shares were at HK$70 by 1:32 AM ET (5:32 AM GMT), after opening 46.3% higher at $78. The company offered 58.26 million shares priced at HK$53.3 each, the top end of its range of HK$50.5 to HK$53.3.
Of the more than 20 companies that launched share sales at the end of June 2021, Keymed was one of the most subscribed candidates. Retail investors placed HK$53.2 billion worth of orders, a 171-times oversubscription, for the company’s shares. A total of 15 cornerstone investors also subscribed to HK$1.48 billion worth of shares, or around 50% of the total issued amount.
The list of investors includes Invesco, UBS Asset Management, Temasek, Hillhouse Capital, Lake Bleu Capital and CSPC Pharmaceutical. The company was also reportedly able to close the institutional books a day earlier than expected
Founded in 2016, Chengdu, China-based Keymed develops therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. It has nine drug candidates that have been approved as investigational new drugs and is running clinical trials for five of them.
However, with none of the candidates expected to be commercialized before 2023, Keymed has yet to generate profit from product sales. The company’s net loss widened by 3.89 times to CNY818.8 million yuan ($126.49 million) in 2020 as r&d investments and administrative expenses increased.