Tigermed roars in its Hong Kong stock trading debut, as Asia’s largest health care IPO of 2020 draws traders to its clinical trials
- Clinical trial and research firm’s secondary listing was the biggest in Asia this year
- Will use funds to expand overseas
Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting, the biggest listing this year by an Asian health care provider, jumped by as much as 19 per cent in its Hong Kong trading debut, as investors piled into China’s largest clinical researcher, betting that some of its 400 trials under way would bear fruit.
Tigermed’s shares began trading at HK$119, soaring from their initial public offering price (IPO) of HK$100. It trimmed that to a 13 per cent gain on a down day on the overall market. Yuan-denominated A shares of the company, based in the Zhejiang provincial capital, closed down 4.3 per cent 107.68 yuan (HK$120) on the ChiNext Board in Shenzhen.
“The scope of Tigermed’s clinical and laboratory service offerings provide an edge against peers, in our view,” according to Mia He, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “It offers data management and statistical analysis, which play a vital role in the clinical development of drugs and creates a high barrier to entry.”
Tigermed is among the many Chinese companies that have flocked to Hong Kong to make use of the bourse’s relaxed listing rules for pharmaceutical research teams – even those that have not sold any products – to raise capital. Tigermed plans to use
fund its overseas expansion, amid a surge in clinical trials for medicines and vaccines for treating coronavirus infections. The company may also use some funds for overseas acquisitions.
