In a stark contrast to lacklustre Western biotech flotations, China’s Ab&B Bio‑Tech made a spectacular debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Shares of the vaccine developer surged nearly 170 % on their first day of trading after raising $55 million in an initial public offeringreuters.com. The retail tranche was nearly 4,000 times oversubscribed, forcing underwriters to reallocate more than 650,000 shares from institutional investors to satisfy the onslaught of public demandreuters.com. In total, 33.44 million shares were sold at HK$12.90 each, towards the bottom of the marketed rangereuters.com.
Ab&B Bio‑Tech is developing influenza and rabies vaccines and sits at the intersection of public health and national pride. The company said roughly 192,000 retail investors applied for stock, underscoring strong appetite for home‑grown biotech playsreuters.com. Demand from institutional investors was relatively muted, but the retail frenzy propelled the share price as high as HK$34.80 in early tradingreuters.com. Whether the rally proves sustainable remains to be seen, but for now the listing highlights how retail investors in Asia are driving biotech speculation even as global markets wobble.
