Public Equity Report: IPO action from QuantumPharm, Ascentage, Alumis, Telix

IPO activity picked up this week in both the U.S. and Hong Kong, although not all the news was auspicious. Meanwhile, a handful of biotechs raised capital on the heels of recent milestones, and PIPEs continued to flow for life sciences companies choosing that route.

In Hong Kong, artificial intelligence and robotics-driven R&D company QuantumPharm Inc. (HKEX:2228), the parent company of U.S.-headquartered subsidiary XtalPi Inc., priced 187.4 million shares at HK$5.28 late Wednesday to raise HK$989.3 million ($126.7 million). The company had raised nearly $800 million in private funding since its 2014 inception, and has partnered with numerous pharmas, including Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Merck KGaA (Xetra:MRK). QuantumPharm’s shares finished the week up 2% to HK$5.40...