Insilico Medicine Cayman TopCo shares rose on their trading debut in Hong Kong after raising $293 million in an initial public offering. 

The shares climbed 45 percent at the open on Tuesday. They were priced at HK$24.05 ($3.09) apiece.

The debut comes amid a surge in investor demand for startups in the generative artificial intelligence segment and a broader rally in Hong Kong’s healthcare shares. The Hang Seng Biotech Index has jumped 67 percent this year, outperforming the benchmark’s 28 percent gain.

ALSO READ: HKEX: Hong Kong tops global IPO venues in 2025

Insilico, which has extensive operations in the US and the Chinese mainland, alongside Canada and the Middle East, is among an early cohort of startups that use AI to improve drug discovery, historically a time-consuming and costly process. Its most advanced internal drug candidate, that treats an incurable lung disease, has shown promise in a mid-stage study.

The pharmaceutical industry has long embraced the promise of AI in slashing research and development time and costs, though progress has been slow. Advances made, such as that by Insilico and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co — which recently passed a crucial late-stage test for its AI-selected psoriasis drug — have boosted optimism across the sector.

Insilico was founded in 2014. It secured $110 million in a financing round led by Value Partners Group earlier this year. Other backers include Warburg Pincus, US biotech investor OrbiMed Advisors LLC, and the venture arm of Eli Lilly & Co.

READ MORE: Deloitte: Hong Kong IPO market eyes HK$300 billion in 2026

The listing concludes a more than four-year effort to go public. It was said to have weighed an IPO in the US in 2021, and had filed for a Hong Kong listing in 2023 and again in 2024, though applications for an offering in the Asian financial hub were allowed to lapse.

Proceeds from the Hong Kong IPO will be used to fund clinical research and development of the company’s key clinical-stage pipeline drug candidates and to develop new generative AI models, among other things.

Apart from developing its own drugs, Insilico generates revenue by selling access to its AI drug discovery software, collaborating with industry peers and licensing assets to clients such as Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co and Exelixis Inc. The company reported more than $85 million in revenue in 2024.

Insilico’s debut adds to Hong Kong’s busiest month for first-time share sales since November 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There were 25 listings in December.

The Asian financial hub will end the year with $36.6 billion in listing proceeds, a four-year high, Bloomberg-compiled data show.