Biolidics shares slump on Catalist debut
SINGAPORE (Dec 19): Just two hours into its debut on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) Catalist board, shares in medical technology firm Biolidics have slumped 23.2% from its listing price of 28 cents.
The stock on Wednesday opened 5.4% lower than its IPO price at 26.5 cents. As at 11.15am, Biolidics is trading at 21.5 cents, with some 4 million shares having changed hands.
Biolidics is an associated company of Clearbridge Health, which is also listed on the Catalist board and has seen its share price lose half its value this year.
Apart from Clearbridge, Biolidics' substantial shareholders include Seeds Capital, which is ultimately owned by statutory board Enterprise Singapore.
Biolidics on Tuesday evening announced that its IPO of 27.5 million new shares via placement was fully subscribed for by investors. The placement shares represent 11.34% of the company’s enlarged share capital of 242.5 million shares immediately post-IPO. There was no public tranche.
Of the net proceeds of $6.1 million raised from the IPO, Biolidics plans to use $2.7 million to expand its clinical services applications and clinical services customer segment and $2.4 million to advance its pipeline products. The remaining $1 million will be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.
“Driven by the increased prevalence of cancer, one of our key priorities is to work on business development opportunities within the cancer diagnostic market to make the most of our innovation,” Biolidics’ executive director and CEO Ivan Lew said in a statement.
The medtech firm focuses on the development of cell enrichment systems which, when combined with other analytical tests, have a wide range of applications for the treatment of cancer. These applications include cancer diagnosis, prognosis, treatment selection and treatment monitoring.
“While Biolidics is entering a new phase with our listing on SGX, we will continue to use our collective passion and dedication to develop the company and create value to our stakeholders,” Lew says.
“Singapore houses one of the region’s biggest medical technology clusters and is at the forefront of many developments on the medical front. Biolidics joins the growing number of medtech companies looking to tap Asia’s healthcare market and SGX looks forward to supporting the company as it further explores opportunities in diagnostics and other specialties,” says Mohamed Nasser Ismail, head of Equity Capital Market (SME) and head of Capital Market Development, SGX.
Shares in Biolidics closed at 23.5 cents on Wednesday, some 16% below its IPO price.
