Transaction Overview
Akeso, Inc. ("Akeso", Stock code: 9926.HK) is successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 24, 2020. CMBI acted as Joint Bookrunner and Joint Lead Manager for this IPO.
Akeso is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to in-house discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class and best-in-class therapies. Akeso is dedicated to addressing global unmet medical needs in oncology, immunology and other therapeutic areas. Since its inception in 2012, Akeso has had the foresight to develop an end-to-end platform, Akeso Comprehensive Exploration platform (“ACE Platform”), encompassing comprehensive drug discovery and development functionalities, including target validation, antibody drug discovery and development, CMC, and GMP-compliant manufacturing. Through ACE Platform, Akeso has consistently and rapidly innovated and produced high quality drug candidates, with minimal dependence on external vendors, and has achieved remarkable results and industry recognition within nearly eight years since its establishment, including the following: (i) Akeso out-licensed CTLA-4 antibody (AK107) to Merck for a total consideration of up to US$200 million; (ii) Akeso has developed one of the richest and most diversified innovative antibody drug pipelines in China covering over 20 drug development programs, including 12 antibodies in clinical-stage development, six bi-specific antibodies (two at clinical stage), and four antibodies with IND approvals from the FDA; and (iii) Akeso has forged important partnerships, including the most recent one with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., the principal subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited (stock code: 1177).
Akeso issued 159,495,000 shares (assuming the Over-allotment Option is not exercised), and the offering price was set at HK$16.18, and the offering amount was approximately HK$2,581 million (assuming the Over-allotment Option is not exercised). The offering has been widely recognized by international and domestic investors, and over-subscribed in International Offering and Hong Kong Offering. The investment from cornerstone investors represented approximately 49.33% of the total offer size (assuming the Over-allotment Option is not exercised), and Hong Kong Public Offering has been 639.20 times oversubscribed, freezing over HK$160 billion, making it crowned as “King of freezing funds” in Hong Kong this year currently and the largest IPO by funds frozen among biotech companies listed under Chapter 18A.
Acting as the Joint Bookrunner and Joint Lead Manager, CMBI assisted the company to attract a number of International long-only funds, healthcare-dedicated funds and top Chinese long-only funds and insurance funds, perfectly demonstrating CMBI's broad investor coverage and strong underwriting capability. The Company thought highly of the contribution of CMBI in underwriting process, especially contribution to the high-quality book.
The listing of Akeso in Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board is the 10th healthcare sector equity transaction completed by CMBI from 2019. This deal has consolidated the CMBI’s leading position in the healthcare sector. The successful completion of the global offering is another classic showcase of CMBI in serving China New Economy clients.
Source: Company Announcement
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About Akeso
Akeso is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to in-house discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class and best-in-class therapies. Akeso is dedicated to addressing global unmet medical needs in oncology, immunology and other therapeutic areas. Akeso’s vision is to become a global leader in developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative, next-generation and affordable therapeutic antibodies for patients worldwide.
Akeso’s business is designed to drive success through both efficient and breakthrough R&D innovation. Akeso believe that fully integrated in-house R&D capabilities are critical to achieving success in China. Since inception, Akeso has had the foresight to develop an end-to-end platform, Akeso Comprehensive Exploration platform (“ACE Platform”), encompassing comprehensive drug discovery and development functionalities, including target validation, antibody drug discovery and development, CMC, and GMP-compliant manufacturing.
Through ACE Platform, Akeso has consistently and rapidly innovated and produced high quality drug candidates, with minimal dependence on external vendors, and has achieved remarkable results and industry recognition within nearly eight years since establishment, including the following: (i) Akeso out-licensed CTLA-4 antibody (AK107) to Merck for a total consideration of up to US$200 million, which makes Akeso the first China-based biotech company to out-license a fully internally-discovered monoclonal antibody to a global leading pharmaceutical company; (ii) Akeso has developed one of the richest and most diversified innovative antibody drug pipelines in China covering over 20 drug development programs, including 12 antibodies in clinical-stage development, six bi-specific antibodies (two at clinical stage), and four antibodies with IND approvals from the FDA. Since 2017, Akeso has initiated 22 clinical trials for innovative drug candidates; and (iii) Akeso has forged important partnerships, including the most recent one with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., the principal subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited (stock code: 1177).
Source: Prospectus
