As Chinese biotech and pharmaceutical firms gain importance on the global stage, foreign investors from sovereign wealth funds to industry players are securing strategic stakes in their future success.
International institutional investors have built up significant positions in Chinese biotech firms over the past decade. These positions often approach, and in some cases exceed, the 5 per cent disclosure threshold for substantial shareholders in Hong Kong.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, held 5.76 per cent stake in Innovent Biologics, according to an analysis of the Hong Kong stock exchange data on shareholdings in the 10 largest Hong Kong-listed biotech and pharmaceutical companies by market value.
All are constituents of the Hang Seng Biotech Index.
That made BlackRock the third-largest institutional shareholder in the company, which signed a deal worth as much as US$11.4 billion, including equity investment, with Japan’s Takeda last year.
BlackRock appears as one of the top shareholders in four of the 10 companies analysed. It also held 4.82 per cent of the issued voting shares in 3SBio, 4.72 per cent in WuXi AppTec and 5.61 per cent in WuXi Biologics.
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, currently holds a 4.31 per cent stake in Innovent Biologics. It has backed Innovent since 2015, when it took part in the company’s series C financing round.
WuXi AppTec has attracted Morgan Stanley Investment Management as its largest shareholder with a 19.92 per cent stake, while JPMorgan and sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority hold 6.59 per cent and 5.86 per cent, respectively.
US multinational biopharmaceutical company Amgen holds a 20.31 per cent stake in BeOne, while other major shareholders include US asset manager Fidelity and investors Felix James Baker among its top five.
Morgan Stanley held about 4 per cent in Akeso. The other companies in the 10-stock sample are Sino Biopharm, CSPC Pharmaceutical, Hansoh Pharmaceutical, and AI-driven drug maker XtalPi.
Across the 10 names, other notable shareholders include investment banks UBS Group, Fullerton Management and Hillhouse Investment.
Notably, the other Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, GIC, invested in Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, Harbour BioMed, CStone Pharmaceuticals and Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals, the data showed.
Temasek also held significant voting rights, with a 6.03 per cent stake in Guangzhou Innogen Pharmaceutical.
“Since China reformed the healthcare sector around 10 years ago, foreign funds started to invest in the sector, which became more appealing for them, on the back of demography, innovation and domestic demand,” said Zhang Jialin, Nomura’s head of China healthcare research.
Global investors have reaped sizeable rewards from their investments in Hong Kong-listed biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Shares in the 10 companies jumped an average of 140 per cent as of Wednesday from a year earlier. BeOne led the pack with a gain of about 294 per cent.
Foreign investors’ appetite for Chinese assets has undergone a sea change over the past year. In early 2024, when market sentiment towards Hong Kong initial public offerings was subdued, at least 43 government-related entities stepped in as cornerstone investors for companies filing for Hong Kong share offerings, according to data compiled by the Post. These included provincial governments, municipalities, councils and local government investment vehicles.
Riding the tailwinds of Beijing’s policy support and perceived undervaluation, global long-term capital returned in force in 2025. Global fund managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity, as well as sovereign wealth funds, re-engaged in new issues.
In a recent example, artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery firm Insilico Medicine raised HK$2.3 billion (US$295 million) in Hong Kong, attracting 15 cornerstone investors, including Lilly, Temasek, Schroders, UBS Asset Management and Oaktree Capital, which together committed US$115 million.
Such moves were “part of the asset allocation towards China’s hi-tech industry”, said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank. “Biotech is a fast-growing sector with high returns on capital.”
Compared with global peers, China had developed strong capabilities in research and development, as well as international cooperation, over the years, he added. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
