SinoMab, first local biotech firm to list in city, says Hong Kong can be ‘nerve centre’ of regional industry
- Lack of local demand for biochemistry scientists means lack of work that translates academic achievement into commercial application, biotech firm’s founder and CEO says
Hong Kong biotechnology company SinoMab Bioscience, which is set to debut on the local stock exchange on Tuesday, said the city had the potential to become the nerve centre of a regional industry, provided the government did more to bridge the gap between academia and industry.
“Hong Kong’s scientists are well-trained and of a high calibre, but as the city lacks an established industry ecosystem, their training is more geared towards academic research,” Shawn Leung Shui-on, SinoMab’s founder and chief executive, said. “While we are good at basic scientific research, the lack of local industry demand for biochemistry scientists means a lack of support for work that translates academic achievement into commercial application.”
The company develops drugs for immunological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and is the first home-grown company to list under Hong Kong’s revamped initial public offering regime, which allows biotechnology companies without any profit or revenue to list. All 11 such companies that have listed in Hong Kong so far have been mainland China-based firms.
Leung said that while Hong Kong was blessed with high-calibre talent, good research facilities, unrestricted access to overseas scientific literature and an internationally recognised legal framework for intellectual property protection and collaboration, a historical lack of industry presence had held back commercial development.
Such advantages, however, mean it was well placed for core research and development, as well as for coordinating clinical trials and product manufacturing in mainland China, for which an ample number of patients as well as land resources were key, Leung added.
The Hong Kong government has awarded about HK$1.5 billion (US$191.5 million) in funding to 960 biotechnology projects in the past seven years, according to the Research Grants Council, which advises the government on the research funding needs of local higher education institutions.
