2023.09.07
On September 5, 2023, ImmuneOnco Biopharmaceuticals (Shanghai) Inc. (“ImmuneOnco” or the “Company”) made a global offering of 17,147,200 H shares (excluding the over-allotment option) at a price of HK$18.60 per share. It was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (“HKEx”) with the stock code of 01541, raising gross proceeds of approximately HK$225 million (before the exercise of the over-allotment option). The shares offered under the Hong Kong public offering were moderately oversubscribed.
Established in June 2015, ImmuneOnco is a science-driven biotechnology company dedicated to the development of immuno-oncology therapies. Its core product is IMM01, an innovative clinical-stage CD47-targeted molecule. Its pipeline consists of drug candidates featuring a comprehensive innate-immunity-based asset portfolio targeting CD47 and other novel immune checkpoints. ImmuneOnco is one of the few biotechnology companies globally adopting a systematic approach to harness both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Currently approved immunotherapies primarily focus on the adaptive immune system and are often confronted with limited clinical benefits due to low response rates and inevitable drug resistance and/or relapse in many cancer indications. Harnessing both the innate and adaptive immune systems allows ImmuneOnco to overcome the limitations of current T-cell-based immunotherapies and address the substantially unmet medical needs of cancer patients.
JunHe acted as the PRC legal counsel to ImmuneOnco and provided it with the following legal services: making the project schedule, assisting the issuer with its shareholding reform, conducting legal due diligence on the issuer, assisting the other intermediaries in drafting and revising the prospectus, issuing legal opinions to the CSRC and the HKEx and reviewing the underwriting agreement. JunHe assisted the issuer in completing its shareholding reform and submitting its IPO application following the easing of the epidemic in June 2022 in Shanghai.
JunHe also acted as the PRC and U.S. IP counsel to ImmuneOnco and provided it with professional patent due diligence services, including conducting Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) investigations on the Company’s core products and several other key products, verifying the Company’s ownership of its patents, analyzing the relevance of the Company’s own patents to its core products and key products, and issuing legal opinions.
JunHe’s capital market and IP teams communicated and cooperated efficiently with the other intermediaries throughout the project. With the assistance of JunHe’s teams, ImmuneOnco’s IPO application was approved by the CSRC in January 2023 and ultimately approved by the HKEx, and the Company was successfully listed on the Main Board of the HKEx.
The JunHe capital market team was led by partner SHAO, Chunyang, with partner ZHENG, Ziwei primarily responsible for the specific work. The JunHe IP team was led by Dr. WANG, Zhaohui (Zoe), with partners WU, Yu (Sophia) and ZHANG, Yi (Johnny) primarily responsible for the specific work. JunHe partner LI, Zhi provided great support for the internal review.
