Chasing Zai

The lightning ascent of Zai Lab Ltd. from start-up to NASDAQ darling can be attributed in part to the Shanghai company ticking several boxes that other Chinese companies looking to list in the U.S. would do well to replicate.

Less than three years after its 2014 launch, the cancer, autoimmune and infectious disease company raised $150 million in a bumped-up offering of 8.3 million shares at $18. The deal valued Zai at $888.9 million on Wednesday and the stock accelerated to close Friday at $27.73, a 54% gain to a market cap just shy of $1.4 billion. Including the overallotment, Zai raised $172.5 million in the deal...