By Gina Lee
China’s Akeso Inc (HK:9926) made a splash as it debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with its stock soaring up to HK$24.45 ($3.21).
This is a 49% increase from its HK$16.18 initial offering price. The stocks opened at HK$23.50 and were trading at HK$ 23.8 by 1:08 AM ET (6:08 AM GMT).
Based in Zhongshan, the company develops drugs to treat cancers. It saw its HK$2.6 billion ($335.45 million) IPO, Hong Kong biggest so far this year, massively oversubscribed last week as the city's investors snapped up the 5.95 million shares on offer.
Akeso is also working on a marketing tie-up with pharmaceutical giant Sino Biopharmaceuticals in the aftermath of the IPO’s success. It also aims to apply for approval to sell its drug candidate for classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients by June.
