Venture capitalist Nisa Leung says mainland China and Hong Kong should ease listing rules for biotechnology companies and lower takeover thresholds for listed firms to capitalize on renewed foreign interest in the healthcare sector. She made the comments in a sideline interview during China's annual meetings of the CPPCC and NPC.
Nisa Leung, a managing partner at Aulis Capital and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), noted that besides artificial intelligence, Premier Li Qiang highlighted biomedicine in the “two sessions” annual government work report.
“We are paying attention to medical insurance and commercial insurance, but at the same time we are also looking at how biopharmaceutical companies can expand overseas,” Leung said. She added that Hong Kong has become a very important capital centre for AI and healthcare, citing the successful listing of Insilico Medicine last year in Hong Kong, which she described as a milestone for the sector. The AI-driven drug discovery company raised HK$2.28 billion (US$290 million) in the share sale.
However, she noted that regulatory bottlenecks were slowing the pipeline of new listings. “Many are stuck in the approval process at the China Securities Regulatory Commission [CSRC],” she said. IPO bottlenecks and takeover rules could deter deals, even as foreign investors return to China’s healthcare sector.
