Genecast Group, which provides innovative oncology molecular diagnostics and testing services in China, has recently revived its initial public offering plan in Hong Kong.
The application, which comes almost six months after the firm’s first attempt, was filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange on February 17, 2023. However, the heavily-redacted application did not divulge the details of the fundraising size and timeline.
Founded in November 2014, Genecast provides a full spectrum of molecular testing, covering cancer risk, early detection, therapy selection, and monitoring for cancer relapse.
The Wuxi-headquartered firm counts some of the country’s notable investors as its shareholders such as Co-win Ventures, Alwin Capital, Loyal Valley Capital, China Structural Reform Fund, Matrix Partners China, THG Ventures, CICC Capital, and CD Capital.
Currently, the firm has 20 commercialised products and 16 product candidates under development spanning over 20 cancer types.
The firm incurred a pre-tax loss of around 428.7 million yuan ($62.4 million) on 434.5 million yuan ($63.2 million) in revenue for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, per the filing.
However, the loss for the said period was considered one of the lowest among leading industry players in China, per Frost & Sullivan.
The listing comes at a time when profits continue to be one of the major concerns among investors.
Effective from April 30, 2018, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX)’s Chapter 18A enables pre-revenue and pre-profit biotech firms to tap the city’s bourse. A “B” marker is included next to the stock name of the listed biotech firms, which will be erased once the firms generate a certain level of profits and revenues.
However, only four out of 48 biotech firms managed to apply to have the “B” mark removed, which took around 10 to 20 months after those firms’ IPO, as of 2021, according to a report published by corporate law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in June 2022.
