New Stock News | Lee Pharmaceuticals (09637) introduces 11 top cornerstone investors to create the strongest lineup in the Hong Kong A-share market in recent years.

HKEx 18A has gone through eight years of storms, and the industry has long bid farewell to the era of "story-driven" brutal growth. After multiple rounds of valuation clearance and liquidity differentiation, the market pricing logic has undergone a fundamental reconstruction: from chasing elusive future imaginings to anchoring on clinical realization certainty, commercialization landing capabilities, and global capital recognition, the three core benchmarks. At this industry turning point, the IPO of Lybon Pharmaceuticals (09637) has sparked the attention of the entire market. This innovative pharmaceutical company focusing on the field of kidney disease not only holds a complete pipeline matrix of "1 commercialized product + 7 clinical stage candidate drugs", but also, amidst the overall sluggishness of the Hong Kong biopharmaceutical sector, has gathered 11 cornerstone investors spanning global sovereign funds, century-old asset management, professional life science funds, and industry capital, setting a ceiling for the cornerstone lineup in the 18A market in recent years. I. Evolutionary history of 18A in eight years: from foam frenzy to value reassessment, defining a new order for long-term funds On June 11, 2026, Liu Ying, Managing Director of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Joint Head of the Public Offer Review Committee, revealed a set of iconic data at the Future Technology Summit: since the implementation of the 18A regulations in 2018, 90 biotech companies have landed on the Hong Kong stock market, raising a total of HK$142.9 billion. These 90 companies are not only witnesses to the birth of the Asian biotech capital market but also the touchstone of industry survival amidst the big waves. After eight years of refining, the industry differentiation has reached a critical point: top companies have completed the commercialization cycle and entered the global innovation ranks; most companies are still struggling in the clinical quagmire; while some targets are stuck in the dilemma of halved valuations and depleted liquidity. The bubble era of "as long as there is a target, funding is possible" has come to a complete end, as capital is increasingly focusing on assets with real value. Market selection criteria have become unprecedentedly pragmatic: how many quarters are left until the core product is commercialized? Can the pipeline form continuous catalytic nodes? Does the funding behind it truly possess professional judgment and long-term support capabilities? These three questions have replaced "track size" and "novelty of mechanism" as the core propositions for current 18A investments. Lybon Pharmaceuticals is a representative company that stands out under this new standard. Focused on kidney disease and related chronic diseases, it has built a full-cycle product system covering complications treatment, disease correction, and functional cure: the core product AP301 has completed Phase III clinical trials in China and global Phase III multicenter trial enrollment and is about to submit a listing application; AP306 has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the National Medical Products Administration, and its global layout is steadily advancing; AP303 and AP308 respectively target disease correction treatment for chronic kidney disease and the core pathological mechanism of IgA nephropathy, filling a global medical gap. II. The strongest cornerstone team in history: Global long-term funds' collective vote, defining scarcity with three "firsts" Unlike the "piecemeal" cornerstone lineups of most 18A companies, Lybon Pharmaceuticals' 11 cornerstone investors present a rare three-dimensional consensus structure: the top layer consists of global sovereign funds and century-old asset management seeking long-term certainty, the middle layer consists of professional life science capital deep in the medical field, and the bottom layer consists of industry capital and top public funds rooted in the Chinese market. More significantly, this cornerstone lineup has given birth to three historic "firsts," enough to confirm the global rarity of Lybon Pharmaceuticals. The ultimate endorsement of global long-term funds: the first breakthrough by sovereign funds and century-old asset management As Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, managing over $936 billion in global assets, GIC is known for its rigorous risk control standards and long-term investment perspectives. This is GIC's first participation as a cornerstone investor in a Hong Kong 18A company IPO in recent years, breaking its tradition of only positioning mature medical assets in the secondary market. In fact, GIC has long been a long-term companion of Lybon Pharmaceuticals, having entered and continued to add investments during the B+ round of financing. For sovereign funds, "accompaniment-style" investments far better illustrate a deep recognition of the company's fundamentals and management execution than heavy concentration on a single asset. Echoing GIC is the American century-old asset management giant Loomis Sayles. Established in 1926 and managing over $425 billion in assets, this illustrious institution has always adhered to a research-driven investment philosophy and rarely participated in primary market cornerstone investments. This is also its first participation in any company's cornerstone investment in the Hong Kong market, signalling that Lybon Pharmaceuticals' investment logic has transcended the geographic boundaries of Chinese innovative drugs and entered the core allocation pool of top global active management institutions. Validation of professional capital pipeline: Money that understands science understands value the best If global sovereign funds and global asset management's approval represents the long-term certainty of assets, then the entry of professional life science funds validates the gold content of Lybon Pharmaceuticals' pipeline most authoritatively. Headquartered in New York, RTW Investments is one of the most influential investment institutions in the global life science field, managing assets of around $9 billion, and is known for its expertise in understanding science, clinical trials, and capital markets, especially excelling in unearthing first-in-class assets with global commercialization potential. Cormorant Asset Management, also from the USA, specializes in cross-cycle investments in the biopharmaceutical sector and manages assets exceeding $3.8 billion, with its investment portfolio birthing many significant innovative drugs. Of particular note is SymBiosis - a biopharmaceutical fund under the Walmart family office. Backed by one of the wealthiest families globally, SymBiosis possesses almost unlimited investment horizons and only bets on transformative technologies that can redefine industry standards. This is its first foray into the Hong Kong stock market to participate in cornerstone investments, viewing Lybon Pharmaceuticals as its core strategic deployment in Asia's kidney disease field. The combined support of domestic forces: Industrial synergy and resonance in the capital market As the second-largest shareholder of Lybon Pharmaceuticals (pre-IPO holding 11.73%), Tencent has continuously held a significant position since the A round. Its deep industry resources, digital capabilities, and traffic advantages in the healthcare sector will provide strong support for patient management, digital marketing, and commercial landing for Lybon Pharmaceuticals. The collective entry of leading Chinese public funds such as E Fund, Huatai-PineBridge, and GF represents the strong confidence of local institutions in the potential of the Chinese kidney disease market and the commercialization capabilities of the company. As of the first quarter of 2026, E Fund manages assets exceeding $584 billion, while Huatai-PineBridge and GF are among trillion-level asset management ranks, collectively endorsing Lybon Pharmaceuticals' post-listing liquidity with a solid guarantee. III. The underlying logic of long-term consensus: Building an irreplicable value moat with a "three-tier pipeline ladder" The rare consensus formed by the world's top capital essentially reflects that Lybon Pharmaceuticals has constructed an industry-unique "three-tier pipeline value ladder," perfectly matching different types of capital's risk-return preferences: the first tier is the nearby commercialization cash flow, the second tier is differentiated innovation with global competitiveness, and the third tier is groundbreaking front-end layouts. First Tier: AP301 + Meishinlu, laying a solid foundation of certainty For 18A companies, the largest risk lies in "research failure" and "commercialization failure." Lybon Pharmaceuticals has completely cracked this pain point with a dual-drive approach: on the one hand, the core product AP301 has completed Phase III clinical trials in China, is about to submit an NDA, expected to be approved for listing in 2027, with its 52-week response rate significantly better than existing standard therapies, poised to become the best product in the hyperphosphatemia field; on the other hand, the commercialized long-acting erythropoietin Meishinlu has been included in the national medical insurance plan, covering over 50 cities and 300 hospitals nationwide, achieving revenue of 30.6 million yuan in 2025, a year-on-year growth of 368%, not only providing stable cash flow for the company but also verifying the execution capabilities of its nephrology specialist commercialization team. Second Tier: AP306, unlocking the global growth ceiling As the world's first and only clinical-stage phosphate transporter inhibitor, AP306 has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the National Medical Products Administration, with Phase II clinical data showing a phosphorus normalization rate close to 95%, far exceeding existing therapies. More importantly, Lybon Pharmaceuticals has pioneered an innovative overseas model of "licensing + equity + industrial binding" with global dialysis leader DaVita, a Buffett heavyweight, forming R1 Therapeutics to facilitate the global development of AP306. This model not only shares clinical risks but also secures overseas channel resources, enabling Lybon Pharmaceuticals to share long-term profits in the global market. Third Tier: AP303+AP308, unlocking billion-dollar future valuations Beyond near-term certainty and mid-term explosive potential, Lybon Pharmaceuticals has also laid out cutting-edge pipelines that can revolutionize the treatment history of kidney disease: AP303 is one of the few global multi-indication CKD therapeutics covering four core subtypes, including diabetic nephropathy (accounting for 70% of the CKD market), IgA nephropathy, among others, receiving FDA orphan drug designation; AP308 is the only engineered IgA protease to enter clinical stages, targeting the core pathological mechanism of IgA nephropathy, poised to achieve functional cure. Once successful, these two products will completely reshape the global kidney disease treatment landscape, bringing about a magnitude leap in the company's valuation. Conclusion The HKEx 18A market is never short of stories, but truly rare are those who can gradually realize these stories into clinical data, commercial revenues, and global partnerships. Lybon Pharmaceuticals' receipt of collective endorsement from 11 top institutions is not a result of market sentiment but a long-term choice by capital for "value-realizing" biotechs. For the entire industry, Lybon Pharmaceuticals' IPO holds landmark significance. It signals the complete end of the "story-driven" era and sets a new benchmark for the "value-realizing" era. As global long-term funds begin to use real gold and silver to vote for certainty, those truly possessing clinical value, commercialization capabilities, and global perspectives within the innovative pharmaceutical industry will ultimately cross cycles and usher in their shining moments. Lybon Pharmaceuticals is not the endpoint but a new starting point for the maturing of the 18A market.