Think of Hong Kong biotech like a restless ‘newborn’

That’s according to Jonathan Wang, the founding partner of OrbiMed’s China operation, who isn’t alarmed by the faltering performance of the first biotech companies to go public in Hong Kong.

Three companies have pulled off IPOs since Hong Kong loosened its listing rules earlier this year, and each has lost more than 10 percent of its value in the ensuing trading. That may seem like a bad omen for the nascent market, but Wang, in an interview with Pharmacube translated by Endpoints, is calling for patience.

“None of the greatest movies we know start with a happy scene,” he said, pivoting from parental imagery to film theory. “It’s common to see the protagonist fall 50 floors from a 100-story skyscraper. I believe brilliant plots are yet to come.”