Genor Biopharma, Everest Medicine set to go public in October

Two Shanghai-headquartered drug developers could make their trading debuts on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as soon as early October.

Genor Biopharma announced it is planning to issue nearly 120 million shares in a global offering, with about 12 million of them for the Hong Kong market, priced in the range of $2.60 to $3.10 per share. The company anticipates its shares to start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Oct. 7.

Founded in 2007, Genor has been focusing on developing therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company is looking to raise about $370 million to fund its core programs. These include GB226 (geptanolimab), a PD-1 therapy for various cancers, which is under China's priority review for treating peripheral T cell lymphoma; GB221, a novel therapy for HER2+ metastatic breast cancer currently in Phase 3 development; and GB242, a copycat version of Janssen's Remicade, a treatment for autoimmune diseases.

Investors will see Everest Medicines come to the public market early next month. Last week, the company announced a global offering of 63.5 million shares, priced in the range of about $6.50 to $7.10 per share, potentially netting $450 million.

Splitting its operations between the U.S. and China, the biotech startup first filed for a Hong Kong IPO back in July after dropping plans for a U.S. listing. Since its inception in 2017, Everest has in-licensed a pipeline of eight novel drug compounds, four of which are in late-stage development. Last year, Everest secured the Asia rights (excluding Japan) to commercialize sacituzumab, the metastatic triple-negative breast cancer therapy developed by Immunomedics, for which the cancer drug maker Gilead Sciences recently paid $21 billion.