Follow us

Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Morgan Stanley and UBS as joint sponsors of biopharmaceutical company Brii Biosciences Limited (02137.HK)’s mainboard listing on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Brii Biosciences focuses on therapies for infectious diseases and illnesses such as HIV, hepatitis B, multi-drug resistant (MDR) or extensive drug resistant (XDR) gram-negative infections, and central nervous system diseases.

The IPO was over-subscribed 292 times at the Hong Kong public offering, raised over HK$2.483 billion (approximately US$320 million), and listed on 13 July 2021. The offering attracted eleven cornerstone investors that subscribed to almost 50% of the issued shares.

"We are delighted to have worked with Brii Biosciences  on its successful listing on the HKEx," said Hong Kong partner Matt Emsley. “The company focuses on infectious diseases which have significant public health burdens in China and worldwide with significant unmet medical needs."

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised on a number of biotech listings since the Hong Kong exchange introduced its new regime for biotech listings in 2018, including those by Shanghai Junshi Biosciences (01877.HK), TOT BIOPHARM (01875.HK), SinoMab Bioscience Limited (03681.HK), Peijia Medical (09996.HK), Antengene Corporation Limited (06996.HK), and CARsgen Therapeutics (02171.HK).

"Given current momentum in the capital markets, we believe biotech, and more broadly the healthcare sector, remains a key area for investor interest,” said Herbert Smith Freehills Kewei joint operation partner Stanley Xie. "We congratulate Brii Biosciences and the sponsors on this successful IPO."

Brii Biosciences has built a pipeline of more than 10 innovative product candidates in slightly over three years. Globally, the value of the infectious disease drug market is expected to increase from US$128.2 billion in 2019 to US$197.6 billion by 2034, the third largest therapeutic segment in the world.

Matt and Stanley jointly led the team advising the sponsors, assisted by partner Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan in Singapore; of counsel George Wu, senior associate Maisie Ko, associates Stephen Chow and Jeffrey Lee, and legal manager Hilary Chong in Hong Kong. Hong Kong trainee solicitor Jasmin Tsang and paralegals Tiffany Chan and Mona Wang also provided support.

Associate director Lucy Yao led Herbert Smith Freehills Kewei Joint Operation’s Alternative Legal Services business to provide high-efficiency solutions for verification and other document-intensive processes during the offering, assisted by legal specialist Selina Wang and legal analyst Shawna Peng.

全球领先的律师事务所史密夫斐尔作为生物制药公司腾盛博药生物科技有限公司(02137.HK)联席保荐人摩根士丹利和瑞银的境外律师,为其在香港联交所主板上市提供法律服务。

腾盛博药致力于推进重大传染病及疾病的治疗,包括人类免疫缺陷病毒 (HIV)、乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV)、多重耐药 (MDR) 或广泛耐药性 (XDR) 革兰氏阴性菌感染,以及中枢神经系统 (CNS) 疾病。

腾盛博药在首次公开募股中获得292倍认购,融资超过24.83亿港元(约合3.2亿美元),于2021年7月13日开始在香港联交所交易。其中,11位基石投资者认购约占50%。

史密夫斐尔香港办公室合伙人艾迈修(Matt Emsley)表示:“我们非常荣幸为腾盛博药在港交所上市提供助力。该公司专注于在中国和世界范围内具有重大公共卫生负担的疾病治疗,并致力于满足大量亟待解决的医疗需求。”

自港交所于2018年放宽生物技术公司上市条件以来,史密夫斐尔已为多家公司在港上市提供法律服务,包括君实生物(01877.HK)、东曜药业(01875.HK)、中国抗体(03681.HK)、沛嘉医疗(09996.HK)、德琪医药(06996.HK)和科济药业(02171.HK)。

科伟史密夫斐尔联营办公室合伙人谢守德表示:“鉴于资本市场当前的发展势头,我们认为生物技术,以及更广泛的医疗保健行业,仍将是投资者重点关注的领域。衷心向腾盛博药和保荐人表示祝贺。”

腾盛博药在短短三年间已经将十几种创新药投入研发。传染病是全球医药市场的第三大治疗领域,预计市场规模将从2019年的1282亿美元增加到2034年的1976亿美元。

合伙人艾迈修和谢守德率领律师团队为此次上市联席保荐人提供法律服务。主要团队成员包括新加坡办公室合伙人Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan、香港办公室资深顾问吴卓人、高美诗(Senior Associate)、周润梆(Associate)、李柏濠(Associate)和种欢子(Legal Manager)。香港办公室曾子悠(Trainee Solicitor)、陈可宜(Paralegal)和王梦(Paralegal)也提供了支持。

联营办公室替代性法律服务(ALT)联合团队在发行期间为招股书验证及其他文件密集型工作提供高效率的解决方案,主要成员包括王思颖(Legal Specialist)和彭祺程(Legal Analyst)。

 

 

Key contacts

Matthew Emsley photo

Matthew Emsley

Managing Partner, China, Hong Kong

Matthew Emsley
Stanley Xie photo

Stanley Xie

, Hong Kong

Stanley Xie

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Sally Greig

Head of Communications, Asia

Hong Kong

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Vivian Huang

Communications Manager, China

Beijing