Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (6990.HK) announced on June 5, 2025, the successful completion of a $250 million share placement, marking the largest follow-on offering in the biopharma industry in the Hong Kong market over the past 12 months. The company placed 5,918,000 H shares at HK$331.8 per share, representing approximately 2.54% of the enlarged share capital post-placement.
Strong Investor Demand Drives Upsizing
The offering demonstrated exceptional market confidence, with the transaction being multiple times oversubscribed. Strong participation came from a diverse base of high-quality investors including global long-only funds, sovereign wealth funds, and healthcare specialist funds. Due to robust booking demand, the deal size was increased from the initially targeted $200 million at launch to $250 million.
The final offer price represented a 7.58% discount to the last closing price and a 0.89% premium to the average closing price over the past five trading days, reflecting balanced pricing that attracted both existing and new investors.
Strategic Use of Proceeds
Kelun-Biotech plans to deploy the net proceeds strategically across two primary areas. First, the company will invest in research and development, clinical trials, registration filings, manufacturing and commercialization of its products. Second, the funds will enhance internal R&D technology capabilities, strengthen external collaborations, and expand the product pipeline portfolio.
Dr. Michael Ge, CEO of Kelun-Biotech, emphasized the significance of the funding: "We are pleased to see continued support from our key existing shareholders, alongside the addition of new, high-profile investors. This reflects the strong recognition of Kelun-Biotech's long-term investment value by international capital markets and specialist investors."
Robust Pipeline and ADC Platform Leadership
The company maintains an extensive development portfolio with more than 30 ongoing key innovative drug projects. Currently, 3 projects have received marketing approval, 1 project is in the New Drug Application (NDA) stage, and more than 10 projects are advancing through clinical stages.
Kelun-Biotech has established one of the world's leading proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platforms, OptiDC™. The ADC portfolio includes 1 approved project for marketing, 1 project in NDA stage, and multiple ADC and novel drug conjugate projects in clinical or preclinical research stages.
Therapeutic Focus Areas
As a holding subsidiary of Kelun Pharmaceutical (002422.SZ), Kelun-Biotech concentrates on major disease areas including solid tumors, autoimmune, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases. The company is establishing a globalized drug development and industrialization platform to address unmet medical needs in China and internationally.
The successful placement positions Kelun-Biotech to accelerate its global clinical development strategy and strengthen its pipeline approach. According to Dr. Ge, the financing will "enable us to unlock the potential of cutting-edge therapies and deliver innovative treatments to benefit more cancer patients."
