iX Biopharma opens 7.6% higher in Catalist debut

SPECIALTY pharmaceutical firm iX Biopharma started off its Wednesday morning Catalist debut on a fairly secure footing.

It opened at S$.0495, 3.5 Singapore cents or 7.6 per cent above its initial public offering (IPO) price of S$0.46, and had risen half a cent more to S$0.50 as at 9.30am.

The company, which develops therapies for pain management and male erectile dysfunction, had drawn strong interest from institutional and retail investors, with an oversubscription of nearly 25 times for its IPO. Its placement shares were fully subscribed, raising some S$29.7 million.

The firm had offered 65.5 million new shares. Of these, 64.5 million were placement shares and one million shares were available for public subscription.

The listing of iX Biopharma brings the total number of healthcare companies on Singapore Exchange to 31 with a combined market capitalisation of over S$38 billion, the bourse said in a statement on Wednesday.