Three years on from listing reforms, Hong Kong’s biotech investment ecosystem is booming
- HKEX’s listing reforms launched in 2018 opened a new pathway for pre-revenue biotech companies to raise funds, fuelling an era of growth
- Hong Kong has become Asia’s largest biotech fundraising hub, and the second-largest globally
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The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on global health care and innovations in biotech, while accelerating the growth of sub-sectors such as mRNA technology, diagnostic products and the development of vaccines.
These have attracted fresh interest from investors around the world. The size of the global biotech market is expected to surpass US$1 trillion this year, up from about US$753 billion in 2020, according to a March report by Grand View Research.
There has been a surge of interest in biotechnology companies seeking listings in Hong Kong, matched by strong investor appetites to support this sector, which has become one of the fastest-growing IPO market segments.
This has, in part, been facilitated by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s (HKEX) introduction of listing reforms in 2018, which opened the door to a wide range of biotech, new economy and innovative high-growth companies, resulting in more diversity with both primary and secondary listings, and pre-revenue biotech companies.
The reforms have helped turn Hong Kong into Asia’s largest biotech fundraising hub and the second-largest globally, behind New York’s Nasdaq. As of August 31, HKEX has welcomed 75 health care and biotech listings on the main board in Hong Kong, raising HK$231.4 billion (US$29.75 billion) through IPOs since the launch of the new regime.
