October 27, 2020 - Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Limited (2096.HK) announced today that the company has officially been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The total global offering is 261 million shares, with net proceeds expected to reach approximately HK$3.39 billion.
We are a company engaged in the R&D, production and commercialization of pharmaceuticals, and we are currently undergoing a rapid transition towards being an innovation-driven pharmaceutical company. Our diversified product portfolio is strategically focused on several key therapeutic areas, including oncology (including cell therapy), central nervous system diseases and autoimmune diseases.
We have established three R&D centers in Nanjing, Shanghai and Boston, and have been approved to build a "State Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine and Innovative Drug Development" in China. We became the first Chinese chemical and biological pharmaceutical company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, and went private in 2013.
In recent years, company revenue has increased from RMB 3.868 billion in 2017 to RMB 5.037 billion in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.1%.
At the same time, the company’s ratio of R&D investments to revenue has steadily increased from 5.5% in 2017 to 14.2% in 2019, and in the first half of 2020, the ratio reached 23.6%. Currently, Simcere has launched more than 10 types of products with leading positions in their respective markets, including three category I innovative drugs in China and one imported innovative pharmaceutical.
In 2020, Simcere launched two innovative products. Developed in collaboration with Simcere’s overseas partner BMS, Orencia®(Abatacept Injection) was introduced into China by Simcere as a new biological drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Meanwhile, Sanbexin® (Edaravone and Dexborneol Concentrated Solution for Injection) is a category I innovative pharmaceutical developed in-house by Simcere to treat acute cerebral infraction.
In addition, we have obtained the exclusive promotion rights in China regarding oncology treatment indications of a PD-L1 inhibitor known as KN035. Our partners Jiangsu Alphamab and 3D Medicines are currently conducting Phase II clinical trials of KN035 for dMMR/MSI-H colorectal carcinoma and other advanced solid tumors, Phase III clinical trials for advanced BTC on Chinese mainland and Phase I clinical trials in the United States and Japan. Beyond these exciting developments, Simcere is also overseeing the development of nearly 50 other innovative pharmaceuticals, all at various stages in our R&D pipeline.
Through this global offering, we intend to use the raised capital over the next few years for several key areas. This includes continuing our R&D work towards select product candidates among our therapeutic areas of strategic focus, reinforcing the company’s sales and marketing capabilities, and investing in other pharmaceutical or biotech companies with significant commercial value and expected to meet the medical needs, with a view to broadening the product portfolio, as well as the repayment of certain bank loans.
We view the return of Simcere to the stock market as a major milestone. It will not only help us attract more resource for R&D, but even more importantly serve as a powerful reminder to us all to keep in mind the company’s original aspiration and entrepreneurial spirit. As such, we plan to keep working hard as a group and for the long term, and thereby realize the goal of “Providing Today's Patients with Medicines of the Future.”
