Hillhouse-backed Genor Biopharma Reaches $1.8b Market Cap In HK IPO

Genor Biopharma, a Chinese commercial-ready biopharmaceutical firm backed by Hillhouse Capital, has reached a market capitalisation of HK$14 billion ($1.8 billion) after the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on Wednesday.

Shanghai-based Genor offered an aggregate of nearly 119.9 million shares at a price of HK$24.0 ($3.1) per share, the upper end of its proposed price range between HK$20.3 ($2.6) and HK$24.0.

Its stock price opened at HK$29.2 ($3.8) apiece on the debut trading day, up almost 21.7 per cent to command a market capitalisation of HK$14 billion.

The firm’s public offering shares were oversubscribed by 1,247 times and froze about HK$362.6 billion ($46.8 billion) in committed capital, making it one of the most sought-after IPOs among biotech listings in Hong Kong in 2020.

Founded in December 2007, Genor focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialisation of drugs for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune, and other chronic diseases. With research centres in Shanghai and San Francisco, the firm has built a pipeline of 15 targeted drug candidates with commercialisation potentials in China that cover both proven and novel biological pathways.

It has 17 clinical trials ongoing in Asia, including two new drug applications (NDAs) expected to be filed with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and four investigational new drug applications (INDs) to be filed with the NMPA and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the next 12 to 18 months.

Genor currently has no product approved for commercial sale and has not generated any revenue from product sales. The firm generated revenues of 6.9 million yuan ($1.0 million) and 13.0 million yuan ($1.9 million) in 2018 and 2019, respectively, by providing research and manufacturing services to customers under fee-for-service contracts.

The firm had garnered $160 million in a Series B round led by Asia-focused private equity major Hillhouse Capital in June 2020. Other investors in the new round include Singapore’s state investor Temasek; Shanghai-based private equity firm Haitong Capital; Cavenham PE; and CR-CP Life Science Fund, a 50-50 joint venture between China Resources Group and Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group that invests in life science companies.

Hillhouse remains as the single largest institutional shareholder of Genor with a nearly 29.4 per cent stake after the IPO.

The company plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO to fund research and development activities of core products, including ongoing and planned clinical trials, indication expansion and preparation for registration filings, and commercialisation. The capital will also be used to expand the firm’s drug pipeline and to fund general corporate purposes.

Genor lists shares under the symbol “6998.” Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, CMB International Capital, China Renaissance Securities, and others served as the joint bookrunners of the deal.