Developer of First China-Made Oral Drug for Covid-19 Applies for IPO in Hong Kong
Liao Shumin
DATE:  Aug 05 2022
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Developer of First China-Made Oral Drug for Covid-19 Applies for IPO in Hong Kong Developer of First China-Made Oral Drug for Covid-19 Applies for IPO in Hong Kong

(Yicai Global) Aug. 5 -- Less than half a month after its product Azvudine, China’s first domestic oral medication for Covid-19, was approved to be on the market, Genuine Biotech submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. But the firm did reveal how much money it will raise.

The company will use the funds raised to produce and commercialize the drug and do clinical research on therapies for the human immunodeficiency virus, the hand-foot-mouth disease, and neoplastic hematologic disorders, Genuine Biotech said in the application.

The firm has two subsidiaries – Henan Genuine Biotech formed in September 2012 and Shenzhen Genuine Biotech set up in January 2020. As of the end of May, Genuine Biotech had 173 employees, all in China.

Shenzhen Genuine specializes in developing medicines for hematological diseases, tumors, liver diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases, and Henan Genuine focuses on developing and producing innovative antiviral and other drugs.

Genuine Biotech started Phase III clinical trials of Azvudine for treatment of Covid-19 patients in Russia in June last year and was expected to finish the trials by the end of this year, the firm revealed.

Azvudine was originally developed by Zhengzhou University, but Beijing Xingyu Zhongke Investment bought the intellectual property rights of the drug in December 2011 and transferred it to Henan Genuine after it was formed in 2012.

It is worth noting that Genuine Biotech hasn’t made any profit yet and gets money for its operation from equity financing and loans as well as borrowings.

Genuine Biotech posted CNY68,000 (USD10,070.94) in revenue in 2020, CNY1.4 million (USD207,342.94) last year, and CNY8.5 million in the first five months of this year but lost CNY151 million, CNY197 million, and CNY218 million, in the respective periods. So the firm has effectively lost CNY566 million in the past two and a half years.

According to the firm, the vast majority of losses are derived from costs arising from research and development activities, administrative expenses related to operations, and financial costs. Its R&D expenditure for 2020, 2021 and the first five months of 2022 were USD106 million, USD64 million and USD114.2 million, respectively, tallying USD284.2 million.

Editor: Peter Thomas

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Keywords:   Genuine Biotech,Azvudine