Impact Voices | June 8, 2021

The Hong Kong stock exchange is helping biotech companies raise billions

Ardit Naka
Guest Author

Ardit Naka

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Biotechnology has significant importance, especially now when infectious diseases such as COVID-19 are rapidly emerging with more than 144 million cases up until now worldwide. Biotech companies have helped lead the fight against it, providing vaccines for more than 212 million people.

Modern biotechnology “is technology based on biology that provides breakthrough products and technologies to combat diseases, reduce the environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner, and more efficient industrial manufacturing processes,” according to BIO, a trade association for biotechnology companies. 

The global biotech market size was valued at $449 billion in 2019 and is growing. One of the major drivers of this growth has been capital from the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX). HKEX is one of the world’s leading IPO markets, operating a range of equity, commodity, fixed income, and currency markets. In 2020, HKEX raised $76.8 billion of equity funds.

HKEX has committed to providing support to biotechnology and life sciences businesses that focus on research and development that will benefit people around the world. The stock exchange has become the world’s second-largest biotech fundraising hub, ushering in 47 healthcare and biotech listings in 2020. Since 2018, the platform has provided a space for biotech companies to raise $70.7 billion.

In 2020, 23 biotech companies completed their IPOs in HKEX, raising a total of $12.6 billion.

HKEX is fueling the significant growth of the modern biotech sector by providing a platform where biotech companies can access financing and raise billions of funds for their operations.