Everest Medicines Raises HK$1.57 Billion to Accelerate AI+mRNA Platform and Pipeline Development
Key Insights
Everest Medicines (search) completed a significantly oversubscribed share placement raising approximately HK$1.57 billion to fund global R&D and commercialization efforts.
The company will allocate 50% of proceeds to advance its AI+mRNA platform, including EVM14 and EVM16 cancer (search) vaccines that have achieved regulatory milestones.
EVM14 became Everest's first mRNA therapeutic vaccine to receive dual IND acceptance from both China's NMPA and the U.S. FDA.
Everest Medicines (search) announced the successful completion of a share placement raising approximately HK$1.57 billion to accelerate development of its AI+mRNA platform and advance commercialization of its innovative therapeutic pipeline. The biopharmaceutical company sold 22.56 million shares at HK$69.70 per share through a placement that was significantly oversubscribed by leading international institutional investors.
The company plans to allocate approximately 50% of the net proceeds (HK$776.69 million) to support global research and development of pipeline products, with particular focus on its proprietary AI+mRNA platform. An additional 40% (HK$621.36 million) will fund commercialization efforts including new product launches, while 10% (HK$155.34 million) will support working capital and general corporate purposes.
AI+mRNA Platform Achieves Key Milestones
Everest has built what it describes as an industry-leading, fully integrated, and localized AI+mRNA platform enabling development of multiple oncology and autoimmune disease programs. The platform includes EVM14, an off-the-shelf therapeutic mRNA cancer (search) vaccine; EVM16, a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine; and an in vivo CAR-T program aimed at building a differentiated portfolio of precision immunotherapies.
The company achieved a significant regulatory milestone when the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for EVM14, a Tumor-Associated Antigen (search) (TAA) vaccine, was accepted by both China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This makes EVM14 Everest's first mRNA cancer (search) therapeutic vaccine to achieve dual IND submissions in both China and the United States.
The first clinical batch of EVM14 was successfully released from Everest's Jiashan manufacturing site on June 9, 2025, and is anticipated to be delivered to U.S. clinical centers by mid-August. This batch will support clinical trials of EVM14 in both China and the United States.
Clinical Progress in Personalized Cancer Vaccines
The first patient has been dosed with Everest's internally developed personalized mRNA cancer (search) vaccine (PCV) EVM16 at Peking University Cancer Hospital (search) in an investigator-initiated clinical trial (IIT). Early results demonstrated strong immunogenicity and specific T-cell responses even at a low starting dose in advanced cancer patients.
Everest's in vivo CAR-T program is founded upon its proprietary targeted LNP (tLNP) delivery system and has shown promising results in both humanized mouse models and non-human primates. The program offers key advantages including off-the-shelf availability, lymphodepletion-free administration, and dose controllability.
Advancing Renal Disease Portfolio
EVER001, a next-generation covalent reversible BTK (search) inhibitor with global rights, is advancing through global multi-center clinical studies for glomerular diseases such as primary membranous nephropathy (search) (pMN). Positive results from its Phase 1b/2a clinical trial demonstrated rapid onset, durable response, good tolerability, and oral convenience, offering strong potential to address unmet needs in renal disease treatment worldwide.
NEFECON (search), described as the first and only etiological treatment for IgA nephropathy (search) (IgAN) fully approved in China, the U.S., and Europe, continues to gain strong commercial traction in China following its inclusion in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), benefiting over 20,000 patients to date. Everest is also accelerating development of its proprietary diagnostic test for Gd-IgA1 (search) to build an integrated disease management ecosystem encompassing diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care.
Expanding Commercial Portfolio
The New Drug Application (NDA) for Etrasimod (VELSIPITY) has been accepted in Mainland China, with approval anticipated between late 2025 and early 2026. The NDA has also been accepted in South Korea. VELSIPITY has been commercially launched in Macao SAR, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR in 2024.
As Everest's third commercialized product, VELSIPITY has been officially approved by the Guangdong Provincial Medical Products Administration for adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (search). It is now available at medical institutions designated under the Connect Policy in the Greater Bay Area. In March 2025, Everest launched a construction project at its Jiashan manufacturing site to support local production for VELSIPITY.
Strong Investor Confidence
"This placement was well-received by several leading international long-only funds and was significantly oversubscribed, reflecting strong capital market confidence in Everest's commercial execution capabilities and innovative R&D strengths," said Rogers Yongqing Luo, Chief Executive Officer of Everest Medicines (search). "It also underscores investors' endorsement of our long-term strategic vision. We will use the proceeds to accelerate the development of innovative pipelines and our proprietary AI+mRNA platform, while advancing the commercialization of our existing portfolio."
The share placement was priced at a 10.12% discount to the closing price of HK$77.55 per share on July 24, 2025, but represented a 16.15% premium to the volume weighted average price over the thirty consecutive trading days prior to the placement.