On September 25, 2019, Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696. HK) completed its US$410 million initial public offering and listing on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, marking the largest biotech IPO in Hong Kong this year. According to Henlius’ Global Offering, China International Capital Corp., Bank of America Corp., CMB International, Fosun Hani Securities Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. acted as joint sponsors for the transaction.
Henlius Biotech, backed by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, is the first biotech company to receive NDA approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for a monoclonal antibody biosimilar under China’s Biosimilars Guidelines, and the first to commercially launch a biosimilar product in China. Henlius Biotech’s HLX01, a biosimilar to rituximab mainly used for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was officially launched for sale under the trade name “Hanlikang” (rituximab injection). Henlius Biotech has several additional products in sumbission, including HLX02 (trastuzumab biosimilar) which is under review by the NMPA and European Medicines Agency and HLX03 (adalimumab biosimilar) which was assigned to the NMPA’s priority evaluation list.