AI Drug Discovery Company Insilico Medicine Makes Third Bid for Hong Kong IPO

Insilico Medicine has filed again for an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), marking its third attempt following the one in September 2024. The company is seeking to capitalize on renewed investor interest in biotech listings on HKEX, including recent activity like Duality Biologics’ $194 million IPO.

Shortly after its previous IPO attempt, Insilico secured up to $100 million in debt financing from HSBC. In March 2025, it followed with a $110 million Series E round led by Value Partners Group. The Series E funding exceeds the company’s R&D expenditures over each of the past two years—$97.3 million in 2023 and $91.9 million in 2022—according to its IPO prospectus. The decline in spending year-over-year was due to reduced third-party contracting and share-based compensation.

The company’s lead program is rentosertib, a small molecule targeting TNIK, currently in a Phase 2a trial in China for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Additional assets in clinical development target indications such as breast cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and solid tumors. Its preclinical pipeline spans metabolic diseases, non-opioid pain therapies, Parkinson’s disease, and more.

Insilico has ongoing collaborations and licensing agreements with Exelixis, Fosun Pharma, and Menarini Group. Warburg Pincus’ vehicle Mesolite now holds a 10% stake after acquiring shares via transfer from WuXi AppTec. CEO Alex Zhavoronkov holds 9.2% of shares.

Insilico’s IPO filing comes amid growing divergence in the AI biotech landscape. Some, like Recursion and Exscientia, have opted to merge, while others such as Insitro are downsizing. Meanwhile, newer entrants including Xaira and Isomorphic Labs have raised more than $1 billion and $600 million respectively in the last year.

Image: Insilico Medicine

Topics: Startups & Deals