FAST NEWS: Structure Therapeutics Leaps in U.S. Trading Debut

The latest: Innovative drug developer Structure Therapeutics Inc. (GPCR.US) made its IPO trading debut last Friday, becoming the first major U.S. listing by a Chinese company this year.

Looking up: The company sold 10.74 million shares in the offering, above its original target of 9 million shares. It priced the shares at $15 and raised $161 million, exceeding an initial estimate of $135 million.

Take Note: The $161 million raised was just slightly above the $105 million net loss the company reported for the first nine months of last year. It expects to continue reporting big losses for at least the next several years.

Digging Deeper: Structure Therapeutics is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) drug developer with a pipeline of products for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. Its new listing was the largest of any Chinese company to go public in New York in more than a year due to a number of regulatory issues in the U.S. and China that temporarily halted such listings but have now been largely resolved. However, the company’s two most- advanced drugs are in relatively early development stages and still far from being commercialized, meaning it’s unlikely to get any revenue from them for at least another couple of years or more.

Market Reaction: Structure Therapeutics’ shares surged 66.7% when trading began last Friday. It later extended the gains to close at $26, up 73.3% from the IPO price of $15.

Translation by Jony Ho

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