HONG KONG - China's healthcare and biotech firms are capitalising on a surge of interest in the sector due to the coronavirus pandemic by raising a record US$6.8 billion in fresh equity-linked transactions this year.
China's healthcare expenditure accounted for just 6.6 per cent of its gross domestic product in 2018, compared with 17.7 per cent in the United States, according to official data from the two countries. Chinese biotech and healthcare firms have raised US$2.1 billion from initial public offerings in mainland China, Hong Kong and the United States this year, nearly double the rate this time last year, according to Refinitiv data.
Akeso, which focuses on oncology and immunology, raised US$330 million last month in the city's largest IPO this year. Other significant transactions include InnoCare Pharma's US$288 million IPO in March and medical devices maker Peijia Medical's US$302 million deal this month. "For biotech companies, it is very important that you are able to continuously raise money after the IPO... The sector's stocks have done quite well, so obviously biotech companies want to take advantage of the share price to continue to raise capital," said Morgan Stanley's Ms Zhang.