Sign Up

Ab&B Seeks Hong Kong IPO, As China's Vaccine Market Shrinks, And Price Wars Escalate

With proceeds from a Hong Kong IPO, the loss-making biotech is bidding for a piece of China's fiercely competitive market for flu and human rabies vaccines

Key Takeaways:

The company's quadrivalent flu vaccine is already on sale and its rabies shot is due to enter Phase Three trials later this year

At the current spending rate its cash would cover about nine months of operations, extending to 22 months with the IPO money

By Molly Wen

In the post-COVID era, Chinese vaccine companies are grappling with price wars and a shrinking market. Even innovative vaccines against flu, rabies or sexually transmitted viruses have fallen out of favor.

Against this backdrop, vaccine developer Ab&B Bio-Tech Co. Ltd. (2627.HK) is looking to raise up to around HK$518 million ($66 million) in a Hong Kong IPO to bolster its finances for the commercial challenges ahead.

A prospectus issued on July 31 described plans to offer around 33.44 million shares at a price range of HK$12.9 to HK$15.5, with two cornerstone investors, Jiaxing Xinyang and Huatai Capital Investment, signing up for around 18% of the issuance.

The offer extends until August 6, with a minimum investment of 200 shares, and trading is expected to start on August 11, according to a revised issued by the company. CITIC Securities and CMB International are acting as the joint sponsors.

Established in 2015, the biotech has developed two main product lines, one of which, a flu vaccine, has already gone on sale. Its quadrivalent subunit vaccine based on purified elements of the flu virus was approved in May 2023.  Meanwhile, the firm's human rabies vaccine is due to start Phase Three clinical trials in the third quarter of 2025. ...