The small-nucleic-acid sector kicked off the year with blockbuster news.

 

On January 9, RiboBio successfully opened the door to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first bona-fide small-nucleic-acid platform company listed in Hong Kong. The milestone not only gave the HK IPO market for innovative drugs a strong start to 2026, but also signals that China’s small-nucleic-acid-drug industry has officially entered a new, capitalized era.

 

The enthusiasm of investors is evident in the prospectus figures: roughly 31.61 million shares were offered globally at HK$57.97 apiece, raising more than HK$1.8 billion in total, while the international tranche was 16.7 times oversubscribed.

 

By the close of trading, RiboBio had surged over 45%, lifting its market capitalization above HK$13.7 billion.

 

 

As a leading company in domestic oligonucleotide therapeutics, Ribo Biological's strength is rooted in its hard-core capabilities forged through independent innovation. Leveraging its self-developed oligonucleotide chemical modification and drug delivery technologies, the company has achieved numerous breakthroughs in cutting-edge areas. Additionally, it has established its own clinical base in Sweden, forming a global R&D system spanning China and Europe.

 

Particularly crucial is the fact that the company's core team consists of seasoned "captains" with over two decades of industry experience. Whether deeply rooted in the oligonucleotide field or hailing from multinational pharmaceutical companies with extensive backgrounds, they comprehensively cover the entire value chain—from R&D and clinical development to commercialization—providing essential support for the protracted battle of innovative drug development.

 

Ribo Biological's current IPO attempt in Hong Kong is not anchored in a single "blockbuster drug," but rather in its product portfolio built upon its underlying RiboGalSTAR™ liver-targeted delivery platform.

The prospectus indicates that Ribo Biological has established a platform-based development model of "in-depth liver focus and extra-hepatic expansion." Its liver-targeted delivery platform, serving as the cornerstone, has successfully advanced seven products into the clinical stage and includes a pipeline of over 20 preclinical candidates.

This platform advantage means that once the underlying technology is validated, the development risk and timeline for subsequent products can be significantly reduced.

Currently, Ribo Biological's core competitive strength is concentrated in three mid-to-late-stage clinical pipelines generated by this platform, strategically positioned in three major markets: thrombosis, dyslipidemia, and hepatitis B.

In thrombosis—a vast market affecting over ten million lives annually worldwide—Ribo's RBD4059, as the world's first siRNA drug targeting coagulation Factor XI (FXI) to enter clinical trials, is the most advanced in clinical development for this target. Its Phase IIa trial in Europe is nearing completion.

Compared to traditional drugs targeting the common coagulation pathway (such as the blockbuster apixaban), inhibition of FXI in the intrinsic pathway is believed to achieve effective anticoagulation while substantially reducing bleeding risk. RBD4059's Phase I data has validated this potential, showing no signs of increased bleeding risk even with FXI activity inhibition exceeding 90%. Its truly disruptive potential lies in the ultra-long duration of action enabled by siRNA technology, potentially allowing for a "six-monthly injection" dosing frequency.

Another key product, RBD5044, is the world's second siRNA drug targeting APOC3 to enter clinical development, primarily for treating hypertriglyceridemia.

This product is uniquely designed to combine APOC3 inhibition with the long-acting nature of siRNA. Its Phase I data was remarkable: a single dose significantly suppressed APOC3 (by up to 84%), accompanied by a triglyceride level reduction of up to 70%, with a durable effect.

However, RBD5044 faces direct global competition. The pioneer in this target is the U.S.-based oligonucleotide-focused company Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, whose APOC3 siRNA candidate Redemption (plozasiran) received FDA approval in November 2025 for treating adult familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS).

In Ribo's pipeline, RBD1016, for the functional cure of chronic hepatitis B (CHB), represents the most ambitious and challenging strategic direction.

RBD1016 aims to achieve a "functional cure" for hepatitis B by using siRNA technology to inhibit viral replication at the genetic source and significantly reduce hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). This path carries high risk, involves complex scientific mechanisms, and presents significant clinical development challenges. However, a breakthrough here would be truly transformative.

The competition is intensifying. The antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drug Bepirovirsen from the international pharmaceutical giant GSK is the most advanced, recently announcing positive results from two Phase III studies in chronic hepatitis B, potentially positioning it for first-to-market status. Furthermore, companies like Roche and Vir Biotechnology also have candidates in Phase II clinical trials.

RiboBio's Pipeline Diagram, Source: Prospectus

RiboBio's story began in 2007.

Back then, founder Dr. Zicai Liang returned to China from Sweden to find the domestic oligonucleotide therapeutics field "almost a complete blank slate." There were no mature CRO services and a lack of a complete industry chain. Consequently, RiboBio had to start from the most fundamental level, building its own siRNA synthesis laboratory and gradually establishing a research and development system.

After securing its first round of financing in 2016, the company entered a new phase of pipeline expansion and accelerated development.

Thanks to years of accumulation, RiboBio has now established end-to-end capabilities covering the entire oligonucleotide drug development chain. This encompasses key areas such as drug delivery, chemical modification, multi-target drug design, and model-guided development and manufacturing, providing support across the entire lifecycle from early research to commercialization.

Concurrently, the company's R&D center in Europe is equipped with its own Phase II clinical trial base and high-standard laboratories. Teams across China and Europe collaborate efficiently to advance global clinical research and regulatory filing efforts.

After eighteen years of perseverance, RiboBio has not only built its fully independent RiboGalSTAR™ liver-targeted delivery platform but has also advanced seven projects into the clinical stage based on this platform, establishing it as "one of the most efficient liver-targeted platforms globally."

If the liver-targeted platform is RiboBio's current "cash cow," then extra-hepatic delivery technology represents its future "growth engine." This is also the next competitive frontier in the oligonucleotide field.

To date, RiboBio has developed the RiboPepSTAR™ platform targeting the kidney and central nervous system, and the RiboOncoSTAR™ platform for oncology. In November 2025, preclinical data presented by RiboBio at the American Society of Nephrology showed that its kidney-targeted delivery system achieved specific uptake in proximal tubule cells in animal models, with target gene silencing efficiency reaching up to 80%.

This breakthrough signifies that the therapeutic scope of oligonucleotide drugs is expanding from the liver to the entire body. Every breakthrough in an extra-hepatic delivery platform has the potential to unlock a new multi-billion-dollar therapeutic area.

RiboBio's technological value has received a significant "vote of confidence" from top global pharmaceutical companies. In late 2023, the company entered into a collaboration with the German pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim, with a total potential deal value of up to $2 billion. This marked the first major out-licensing deal for a Chinese oligonucleotide technology platform. Within less than a year, the first preclinical milestone was achieved for the initial collaborative project targeting metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

Additionally, RiboBio has established a commercial partnership with Qilu Pharmaceutical for the lipid-lowering drug RBD7022 (targeting PCSK9). These collaborations have generated substantial milestone payments — in the first half of 2025, RiboBio's revenue grew 56.6% year-over-year to RMB 104 million.

However, it is essential to maintain an objective perspective. As an innovative pharmaceutical company that has yet to achieve commercialization, RiboBio still faces multiple challenges.

While oligonucleotide therapeutics offer higher R&D efficiency compared to traditional drugs, there remains the possibility of clinical trial failures or development timelines falling short of expectations. Currently, the company has no commercialized products, and its future profitability hinges on the successful launch and sales of its core pipeline assets.

Furthermore, as the oligonucleotide field gains traction, companies both domestically and internationally are actively entering the space, which could lead to intensified competition and the constant risk of technological disruption. Additionally, the company’s commercial capabilities remain unproven. Once its key products are approved, it will still face significant tests in areas such as sales channel development, market promotion, and national reimbursement negotiations.

Nevertheless, taking a broader and longer-term view, RiboBio’s current IPO attempt can be seen as a milestone in the advancement of China’s original drug innovation capabilities within a critical therapeutic domain.

China has demonstrated a rare degree of global synchronization in the oligonucleotide field. In 2025, the number of new products entering clinical trials in China even surpassed that in the United States. Companies like RiboBio, Ascletis (specifically, its focus might be in other areas, but using it here as a placeholder for another Chinese oligonucleotide player like, for instance, "Suzhou Ribo Life Science" if that's the intended reference, or other prominent names), and Sirnaomics are changing the old narrative of China's innovative drug sector being primarily an importer of technology, leveraging their proprietary platforms to compete on a global stage.

(Note: The original text mentioned "舶望" which is likely a typo or shorthand. The translation uses "Ascletis" as a potential placeholder, but if it refers to a specific company like "Bochuang" or another, the name should be corrected accordingly. "圣诺" is translated as Sirnaomics, a known Chinese-US oligonucleotide company.)