Three-time Defeat and Another Charge into Hong Kong Stocks: Aike Bai's Capital Dilemma and Life-or-Death Challenge

Having failed twice to list on the Hong Kong stock market and once to list on the STAR Market, biotech pharmaceutical company Aike Baifa is once again launching a bid to list on the Hong Kong Main Board, beginning its fourth attempt. On March 16, Aike Baifa officially updated its prospectus for the Hong Kong IPO, with CITIC Securities and J.P. Morgan serving as joint sponsors. Behind this persistent capital push are the company’s tight cash flow pressures and urgent need for funding.

Currently, the review of the Hong Kong 18A board is tightening, and the capital market’s attitude toward investing in unprofitable biotech companies is becoming more rational. Can Aike Baifa, with its third attempt at a Hong Kong IPO, break the cycle of repeated failures and successfully enter the capital market?

Challenging Capital Road

Founded in 2013, Aike Baifa focuses on respiratory and pediatric diseases, dedicated to innovative therapy research and breakthroughs. Its founder and CEO, Dr. Wu Zheng, has over 20 years of experience in drug development and is the company’s core R&D leader.

To date, Aike Baifa has built a pipeline of six candidate drugs, including key products like Qirisev, a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) drug, and AK3280, a drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) currently in Phase II post-proof-of-concept (PoC) clinical trials. The company also has other candidates such as AK0610, AK0901, AK0705, and AK0406 progressing simultaneously.

Aike Baifa’s six candidate drugs. Image / Prospectus screenshot

The prospectus states that Qirisev is the most advanced and promising novel RSV treatment candidate globally and may become the first RSV-specific antiviral drug to achieve positive results in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial.

However, Aike Baifa has yet to commercialize any product. The most advanced candidate, Qirisev, is still under review by China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for new drug application (NDA) approval and has not yet been approved for market launch.

After multiple rounds of early financing, Aike Baifa embarked on its IPO fundraising journey but faced repeated setbacks. Over five years, the company attempted three times to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange and once on the STAR Market, all ending with either withdrawal or failed filings.

Reviewing the timeline, the earliest attempt was in July 2021, when Aike Baifa submitted its prospectus to list on HKEX but ultimately withdrew voluntarily, ending the first attempt prematurely. In April 2023, the company shifted to the A-share market, initiating a STAR Market listing with a planned raise of 1.997 billion yuan. After seven months of review and three rounds of inquiries, the application was also withdrawn.

Subsequently, Aike Baifa returned to the Hong Kong market, submitting a new application in September 2025. However, the six-month validity period expired, and the application was invalidated, until recently updating its prospectus again.

Thus, Aike Baifa has experienced a “two failures in Hong Kong and one withdrawal from the STAR Market” difficult capital journey.

Declining Revenue and Growing Losses

Aike Baifa’s repeated IPO failures are due to both external regulatory tightening and internal operational pressures, as well as delayed commercialization.

As an innovative drug company founded in 2013 with six candidate pipelines, it has not achieved any product commercialization over 13 years, with main business revenue remaining at zero and relying entirely on other income to sustain operations.

The latest prospectus shows that in the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, Aike Baifa’s revenue continued to decline, with other income and gains dropping from 26.635 million yuan to 7.574 million yuan, a 71.2% decrease year-on-year. Losses also widened, with net losses reaching 197.4 million yuan in 2024 and increasing to 227.8 million yuan in 2025, totaling over 425 million yuan in losses over two years.

Beijing News Shell Finance reporter Duan Wenping, illustration

More troubling than losses is cash flow. Aike Baifa experienced large net cash outflows from operating activities for two consecutive years, with net outflows of 188.7 million yuan in 2024 and 151.9 million yuan in 2025. As of the end of 2025, cash and cash equivalents amounted to only 39 million yuan.

The company explained that large R&D expenses related to candidate drug development led to negative cash flow from operations. In December 2025, the NMPA approved NDA for AK0901, and Qirisev is under review in China, expected to receive NDA approval in 2026. As sales of these drugs increase in the future, the company’s operating cash outflows are expected to improve.

Of course, benefiting from HKEX’s 18A policy, which allows unprofitable and revenue-less biotech companies to list, Aike Baifa has the opportunity to attempt an IPO. However, policy advantages cannot hide the company’s operational shortcomings.

What Are the Chances of a Third Hong Kong Listing?

For Aike Baifa, this third attempt to list on the Hong Kong IPO faces challenges in convincing regulators and investors, including review hurdles, capital recognition, and product competition, making the listing prospects uncertain.

Regulators are also signaling tightening, demanding higher standards for application materials and sponsor compliance.

On October 31, 2025, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Requirements for Supplementary Materials for Overseas Issuance and Listing Filing,” requiring Aike Baifa to clarify the compliance of its implemented equity incentive plans and reasons for not completing overseas issuance and listing after previous approvals.

Regarding capital recognition, the current high failure rate of the Hong Kong 18A board is evident. In December last year, biotech company Huasheng Biotech listed on HKEX but saw its stock price weaken on the first day; other companies like BenQ Hospital, Impression Dahan Pao, and Nanhua Futures also experienced first-day break-overs.

Looking at the future market prospects for core product Qirisev, as the world’s first targeted RSV treatment drug at the new drug application stage, it could quickly achieve scale after listing. However, intensified competition from similar products will continue to squeeze its market share and profitability.

Qirisev faces increased competition, while AK3280’s commercialization remains distant, and reliance on a single pipeline poses high risks, making it difficult to build a compelling capital story. Whether Aike Baifa can tell a good capital story and reverse its decline in this IPO remains to be seen, and time will tell.

Beijing News Shell Finance reporter Duan Wenping

Editor: Yang Juanjuan

Proofreader: Wang Xin