A Chinese company with plans to commercialize biosimilar GLP-1 drugs is seeking to go public in Hong Kong, in a test of investor enthusiasm amid a prolonged slowdown.
The Wednesday filing marks Hangzhou Jiuyuan Genetic Engineering’s second attempt at an IPO, after its first application from January lapsed. It has yet to disclose the target raise amount.
Jiuyuan, which was founded in 1993, has eight drugs on the Chinese market spanning orthopedics, metabolic diseases, oncology and hematology, with a mix of internally developed and acquired products. “Our business model is underpinned by our commercial capabilities and market insights,” it wrote in its filing.
It has a close relationship with Huadong Medicine, a decades-old pharma company in China that had essentially incubated Jiuyuan. Huadong, through a subsidiary, is still the single largest shareholder of Jiuyuan with a 21.06% stake.
Having initiated research into GLP-1s in 2005, Jiuyuan developed a biosimilar version of liraglutide — a Novo Nordisk drug sold under the brand names Victoza and Saxenda — and licensed it to Huadong. The biosimilar was approved last year for both type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
The company is hoping to do the same with a biosimilar of semaglutide, better known as Ozempic and Wegovy. It has filed the diabetes indication with China’s National Medical Products Administration and plans to launch a head-to-head study against Wegovy for the weight loss indication.
In the metabolic space, Jiuyuan is also developing a biosimilar of Eli Lilly’s dulaglutide (Trulicity) and its own amylin analog.
But Jiuyuan will face fierce competition in the GLP-1 arena. In its own filing, it noted that 15 GLP-1 receptor agonists have been approved in China to treat type 2 diabetes, including five domestically developed products, and it counted 240 ongoing clinical trials evaluating similar candidates, including 45 Phase 3 trials.
Both Novo’s Wegovy and, more recently, Lilly’s Zepbound have been approved in China for weight loss.
Jiuyuan’s pitch will test the waters at a time the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s biotech board is seeing little activity as foreign investors stay on the sidelines. The most recent biotech-related IPO came from XtalPi, an AI drug discovery startup that went through a route designed to attract tech companies. But unlike some of the pre-revenue biotechs that have listed (and withered) on the exchange, Jiuyuan touts a revenue stream from its commercial treatments.
Despite its name, Jiuyuan also clarified that it’s not engaged in the genetic engineering business. In fact, it’s preparing for a name change to “Hangzhou Jiuyuan Genetic Biopharmaceutical Co,” according to the filing.