Chinese biopharma debuts on Nasdaq

Hutchison ChinaMediTech Ltd, a Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical company, started trading on Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York.

Chi-Med, as the company is also known, tradeson Nasdaq under the symbol HCM. Shares closed at $13.40 on Thursday, 10 cents below their initial public offering price, after reaching an intraday high of $14.68.

In the IPO, which priced on Thursday morning, Chi-Med sold 7.5 million American depositary shares, raising $101.25 million. Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities were the lead underwriters.

The company, which is majority owned by the multinational conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd,calls itself a "globally-focused healthcare group which researches, develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceuticals and health-related consumer products".

Its innovation platform is focused on discovering and developing therapeutics in oncology and autoimmune diseases. The commercial platform manufactures, markets and distributes prescription drugs and consumer health products in China.

More specifically, Chi-Med is a developer of targeted, small molecule kinase (enzyme) inhibitors to treat a range of solid tumors, blood cancers and immune diseases. The company is conducting 20 active clinical trials in various countries, including two late-stage studies with AstraZeneca in the US and Eli Lilly in China, working toward potential new drug applications.

"Today is an important milestone for Chi-Med as we go public in the US market," said Simon To, executive director and chairman, who along with CEO Christian Hoggrang the Nasdaq closing bell on Thursday.

"Our R&D is focused on addressing the shortcomings of many of the currently approved kinase inhibitors, specifically the off-target toxicities that limit drug exposure and efficacy," To said. "We hope our efforts will result in life-saving therapies for the many patients around the world with few or no treatment options."

"We welcome Chi-Med as they continue to advance their rapidly growing pipeline," said Bob McCooey, who is the senior vice-president for listing services at Nasdaq. "As the venue of choice for innovators and visionaries around the globe, we are excited to be the strategic partner that supports revolutionary companies as they take on the world stage."

hengweili@chinadailyusa.com