(Yicai) May 23 -- Hengrui Pharmaceutical’s shares climbed on their first day of trading in Hong Kong after the Chinese drugmaker raised HKD9.9 billion (USD1.3 billion).

After surging by as much as 37 percent earlier today, the stock [HKG: 1276] closed up 25 percent at HKD55.05 (USD7.03) a share for a market capitalization of HKD365.5 billion (USD46.7 billion). Its Shanghai-listed shares [SHA: 600276] fell 1.6 percent to CNY54.50 (USD7.57).

The Jiangsu province-based firm issued 224.5 million Hong Kong shares priced at HKD44.05 (USD5.62) apiece, a 27 percent discount to its Shanghai closing price of CNY55.40 yesterday.

Cornerstone investors included Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Private, US investment management firm Invesco Advisers, UBS Asset Management Singapore, Boyu Capital unit Cordial Solar, and Hillhouse Capital. They subscribed for about 93.8 million shares, equal to about HKD4.1 billion (USD527.4 million) and accounting for nearly 42 percent of the total offering.

Hengrui plans to use the funds raised for research and development, building new production and R&D facilities in China and overseas, and expanding or upgrading factories at home.

The company’s Shanghai initial public offering was in 2000. Those shares have risen more than 2,000 percent since then, and have gained almost 19 percent so far this year.

Hengrui’s first-quarter net profit jumped 37 percent from a year earlier to CNY1.9 billion (USD260 million), while revenue climbed 20 percent to CNY7.2 billion (USD1 billion). The firm has 90 innovative products in clinical development and is conducting about 400 clinical trials globally.

Over the past three years, the business has inked nine innovative drug licensing partnerships, worth a combined USD14 billion, with industry giants such as Merck Sharp & Dohme and Ideaya Biosciences of the United States and Germany’s Merck Group.

Upfront payments from these deals have become a key revenue stream for Hengrui, as none of its innovative drugs have yet obtained regulatory approval overseas.

Editor: Futura Costaglione