Ascentage Pharma secures US $126M in landmark US IPO

USA – Chinese biotech firm Ascentage Pharma has successfully completed the first US biotech initial public offering (IPO) of 2025, raising US $126 million to advance its pipeline of small-molecule cancer therapies.

Based in Suzhou and already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company offered 7,325,000 American depositary shares at US $17.25 each.

Limited trading began on Nasdaq on January 24 under the ticker symbol AAPG, with full trading starting today.

The company’s flagship drug, olverembatinib, is a next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved in China for treating chronic or accelerated phase myeloid leukemia (CML) with T315I mutations, as well as CML resistant or intolerant to first- and second-generation TKI therapies.

Internationally, olverembatinib is being evaluated in three phase 3 trials, including one in the United States as a monotherapy, which, according to Ascentage, could lead to an FDA filing in 2026.

Beyond CML, the drug is also being developed to treat Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and SDH-deficient gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

In 2024, Takeda secured rights to olverembatinib in markets outside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan through a licensing agreement that included a US $100 million upfront payment.

Ascentage’s milestone IPO reflects China’s growing influence in biopharmaceutical innovation.

A recent report by Stifel highlights that nearly one-third of in-licensed candidates by major pharmaceutical companies now originate from Chinese biotech firms.

According to its IPO prospectus, Ascentage intends to allocate the proceeds to advance olverembatinib’s clinical trials and regulatory filings while expediting the international development of its second major program, lisaftoclax.

This novel Bcl-2 inhibitor is under review in China for treating relapsed and refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL), and it is undergoing phase 3 trials for additional indications such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

The company believes lisaftoclax offers a safer alternative to Roche and AbbVie’s Venclexta (venetoclax), which generated nearly US $600 million in sales in 2023.

Ascentage described the dual listing on the US market as a groundbreaking achievement, stating that it is the first pre-revenue biotech listed on the Hong Kong Exchange to reach this milestone.

The company celebrated the event as marking “the beginning of a new global chapter for Ascentage Pharma.”