On January 29, 2024, Beijing Health Guard Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Beijing Health Guard Biotechnology Inc. (“Health Guard” for short) submitted a prospectus on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to be listed in Hong Kong for an IPO.
Leisure Guard was listed on the New Third Board in September 2015 and listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange in March 2023, stock code: 833575.BJ.
Link to Recreation Guard's prospectus:
Main business
Wellness Guard, founded in 2008, is a Chinese clinical-stage vaccine developer. It is a pioneer of the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine in China. It has the richest HPV vaccine product portfolio in the world, and is undergoing a transformation from biotechnology research and development to commercialization.
HPV is the main cause of various cancers such as cervical cancer, and vaccination is a recommended HPV prevention strategy. According to Frost & Sullivan, the HPV vaccine is the best-selling vaccine product in China and the world in 2022, and is one of the most successful commercialized vaccines in the world. As of January 22, 2024, there are 6 HPV vaccines approved for women and 2 HPV vaccines approved for men in the world. Of these, China has 5 HPV vaccines approved for women, and there is no HPV vaccine for men yet. As of the same day, there are 17 HPV vaccine candidates in clinical development in China, 11 of which have entered phase III clinical trials.
Leisure Guard's three HPV vaccine combinations have high commercial popularity, including:
A nearly commercialized trivalent HPV vaccine candidate, designed specifically to protect East Asian women, is expected to submit a BLA (biological product license application) in China by the end of 2024.
The phase III nine-valent HPV vaccine candidate is expected to be one of the first batch of domestically produced nine-valent HPV vaccine candidates approved for use in women. It is planned to submit BLA in China in 2025. It is also the first domestically produced nine-valent HPV vaccine candidate in China to begin critical efficacy tests on men. The company is also actively developing a nine-valent HPV vaccine candidate overseas, and is conducting phase III clinical trials on women in Indonesia. It is expected to submit BLA to Indonesian BPOM in 2025.
The quasi-phase I 15-valent HPV vaccine candidate. The company and Chengda Biotech have obtained IND approval in China. It is the most expensive of all HPV vaccines that can be commercialized or have obtained IND approval in the world.
In addition to the HPV vaccine, Health Guard also has six pre-clinical vaccine candidates under development for diseases with gaps in medical demand or urgent vaccine upgrades, including RSV vaccine candidates, shingles vaccine candidates, heptavalent norovirus vaccine candidates, other recombinant vaccine candidates (a recombinant quadrivalent HFMD vaccine candidate and a polio symptomatic vaccine), and mRNA bivalent therapeutic HPV vaccine candidates.
Leisure Guard has now built a pilot production workshop in Beijing that meets the GMP requirements of the European Union and China, with a construction area of more than 3,000 square meters. The company is also investing heavily in a new production base in Kunming to support future commercial production. The Kunming production site complies with world-class quality standards such as the GMP requirements of China, the European Union, and WHO. It plans to produce 10 million doses of trivalent HPV vaccine per year, plus 30 million doses of the nine-valent HPV vaccine. It is planned to apply for a pharmaceutical production license at the Kunming production site in the second half of 2024.
Leisure Guard currently has no commercialized vaccines, and a small amount of revenue during the record period came from the sale of test reagents for research and development.
Shareholder structure
According to the prospectus, the shareholder structure of Leisure Guard as of January 22, 2024,
Mr. Tao owns 78.60% of Sirius Holding Group [1] and holds 22.40% of the shares;
Xiaojiang Biotech [2] (Sirius Holding Group owns 82.91%), holding 0.30% of the shares.
Jiang Lin Weihua [3], holding 7.90% of the shares;
[1] Other shareholders of Sirius Holding Group include: Mr. Tao Ran (8.40%), Mr. Hao Chunli (3.00%), Zhao Dichao (3.00%), Wu Zhaofeng (2.50%), Yang Shiyi (2.50%), Zhang Jing (2.00%);
[2] Other shareholders of Xiaojiang Biotech include: Dr. Chen (9.09%) and Zhou Taifeng (8.00%);
[3] Jianglin Weihua's shareholders include: Mr. Liu (35.49%), Dr. Chen (43.88%), Dr. Ma (9.40%), Yao Miansong (5.61%), and Xiaojiang Biotech (5.61%).
Mr. Tao, Sirius Holding Group, Xiaojiang Biotech, and Jianglin Weihua acted in concert to hold a total of 30.60% of the company's voting rights.
Jiangxi Jimin Trustworthy Investment, holding 3.45% of shares through Jilin Xinsheng;
Baibo Ruiying holds 3.17% of the shares;
Zhang Ansheng holds 2.71% of the shares;
Yunfeng Fund holds 2.59% of the shares;
CCB invests in 2.59% of the shares through Qianhai Construction;
Yunnan Huigang Investment holds 1.81% of the shares;
Yunnan Dianzhong Investment, holding 1.81% of the shares;
Yuanwang Fund holds 1.81% of the shares;
Beijing Yizhuang, holding 1.63% of the shares;
Other A-share shareholders hold the remaining shares.
Management
The board of directors of Leisure Guard consists of 9 directors, including 3 executive directors (Mr. Liu Yongjiang, Mr. Hao Chunli, Mr. Tao Ran), 3 non-executive directors (Mr. Tao Tao, Mr. Liu Qingli, and Ms. Li Hui), and 3 independent non-executive directors (Dr. Li Xiaojing, Dr. Qiao Youlin, and Mr. Han Qiang).
3 members of the Supervisory Board (Mr. Wang Zexue, Ms. Chen Xin, Ms. Li Jing).
In addition to the executive directors, executives include Chief Financial Officer Ms. Dong Wei; Vice President Mr. Yi Chuanchao; Vice President Mr. Shen Yiguo; Vice President Dr. Zhang Haijiang; Vice President Ms. Zhang Ruixia; Vice President Mr. Wu Fujun; and Ms. Huang Haiyan, Secretary of the Board of Directors and Co-Company Secretary.
Company performance
According to the prospectus, in the past nine months of 2022 and 2023, Recreation Guard's revenue was RMB 1.901 million and RMB 1.601 million, respectively, with corresponding R&D expenses of RMB 237 million and RMB 177 million respectively, and corresponding net losses of RMB 293 million and RMB 225 million respectively.
Intermediary team
Leisure Defender's intermediary team for this IPO mainly includes CITIC Securities and CCB International as co-sponsors; Ernst & Young as its auditors; Zhong Lun and Kaiyi are the company's Chinese lawyers and the company's Hong Kong and US lawyers respectively; Jun He and Sullivan Cromwell are their respective lawyers; Asia Pacific Assessment is its property valuer; and Frost Sullivan is its industry advisor.