BeiGene Cleared for $31 Billion STAR Market IPO

What’s new: BeiGene won approval Monday for its 200 billion yuan ($31 billion) initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like STAR Market, making it the first Chinese biopharmaceutical company to have shares listed on the Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong and in the U.S.

BeiGene’s IPO meets the listing conditions and information disclosure requirements, the STAR Market’s listing committee said Monday. But the company needs to further explain how it will adapt to the A-share market environment and protect the interests of domestic shareholders, the panel said.

BeiGene, founded in 2010, focuses on developing molecularly targeted and immuno-oncology drug candidates for the treatment of cancers. The company raised $182 million in its IPO on the Nasdaq in 2016 and $902 million in its Hong Kong secondary listing in 2018.

The background: BeiGene turned a profit in this year’s first quarter, its first time in the black since its listing in Hong Kong, as drug sales doubled. In the three months through March, Beijing-based BeiGene logged a net profit of $66.5 million, compared with a net loss of $363.7 million in the same period of last year.

The company attributed the robust sales growth largely to the inclusion of three of its medicines — Tislelizumab, Brukinsa and Xgeva — on China’s National Reimbursement Drug List, giving the drugs exposure to more patients.

BeiGene also has licenses in China for chemotherapy and blood cancer drugs from Celgene, now part of Bristol Myers Squibb.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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