BeiGene, a China-based biopharmaceutical company that counts pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co among its investors, went public in the US yesterday, floating in a $158.4m initial public offering.
A total of 6.6 million American Depositary Shares, each representing 13 normal shares, were issued, priced at $24.00 each, the top of the $22 to $24 range set by the company.
BeiGene is developing immuno-oncology drugs, and will invest $79m of the proceeds in advancing its drug pipeline through the dose-escalation and planned expansion phase of their clinical trials, as well as other planned monotherapy and combination studies.
A further $22m will support development of preclinical drug candidates and other R&D activities.
Merck & Co subsidiary Merck Sharp & Dohme Research (MGD) supplied $10m in convertible debt financing for BeiGene in 2011, before investing $10m in 2014 as part of a $74.5m round led by Baker Bros and backed by Hillhouse Capital, Citic Capital and BeiGene CEO John Oyler.
MGD provided another $6m for a $97.3m series A-2 round in April 2015 that was again led by Baker Bros, and which included Hillhouse and Citic Capital.
Baker Bros remains BeiGene’s largest shareholder post-IPO, with a 19.5% stake that was diluted from 25.2%. MGD will convert its 2011 financing to equity in the offering and its stake will accordingly rise from 7.5% to 7.7%, while Hillhouse will retain a 7.5% share and Citic 4.8%.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Cowen and Company are serving as joint bookrunning managers for the offering, while Baird is acting as co-manager. They have the 30-day option to buy another 990,000 shares, which would boost the size of the IPO to almost $183m.
BeiGene’s shares opened at $28.97 on Nasdaq yesterday, closing the day at $28.32.