Hong Kong becomes world's second-largest biotech fundraising hub: FS
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said Hong Kong has become the world's second-largest biotech fundraising hub since a 2018 reform allowed pre-revenue biotech firms to list. He outlined plans to build a drug and medical device regulator, boost cross-border data flows, and establish a life sciences insti
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on 6 November that Hong Kong has become the world's second-largest biotechnology fundraising centre since a 2018 reform allowed pre-revenue biotech companies to list. He was speaking at the International Biocomputing Innovation Summit.
Chan noted that the nation's 15th Five-Year Plan designates biomedicine as an emerging pillar industry and identifies biomanufacturing and brain-computer interfaces as future development directions. Hong Kong is prioritising support for these sectors.
Through public-private partnerships and patient capital, Chan said the aim is not just to increase research spending but to give promising research time to prove its effectiveness and direct resources to effective areas. In December 2025, an AI drug discovery company listed in Hong Kong with investors including international pharmaceutical firms and a Chinese technology group, demonstrating the city's "super-connector" role linking mainland and overseas drug firms, tech companies and investors.
Chan said Hong Kong will provide researchers with clinical trial infrastructure, professional talent and a regulatory framework to help validate the safety and efficacy of therapies. Key initiatives include establishing a Hong Kong drug and medical device regulatory centre to build independent assessment capacity, promoting cross-border data and biosample flows in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Zone to connect laboratories, clinical trials and real-world studies, and setting up a life and health sciences institute.
He added that the institute will work with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to advance the construction of a third medical school, focusing on clinical research from the start. Hong Kong can also offer international pharmaceutical firms and investors a familiar and trusted platform to access new drugs being developed in China, connecting innovation with the market.
