Recently, AI pharmaceutical company Artivila Biopharma announced the completion of nearly RMB 100 million in Series A financing, led by Songhe Capital, with Junyi Investment and others as co investors, and Kaicheng Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor for subsequent financing. So far, the cumulative financing amount of Kehui Zhiyao has reached nearly 400 million yuan.

It is worth noting that the financing announcement specifically mentioned the need to lay the foundation for future IPOs.
A company established in 2018 and currently in Series A has included its IPO in its financing press release. This is not an isolated case. At present, the AI pharmaceutical industry is intensively staging a capital narrative of queuing for IPOs: some have successfully rung the bell, some are rushing to go public, and some are paving the way for IPOs in advance.

Behind this, it reflects that the AI pharmaceutical industry is entering a new stage of development.

Dr. Liu Dan, Managing Partner of Pivot BioVenture China (Biwo Investment), told Yiyi Jun that the team has long been concerned about the AI pharmaceutical industry and continues to have a positive outlook on its development.

At present, the IPO of AI pharmaceuticals has formed a clear hierarchical pattern, with the top three companies already listed, two or three companies in the second tier on the way, and a group of companies with bright spots in technology and models that still need time to settle in the future. 2026 is a critical window period for AI pharmaceuticals to enter the Hong Kong stock capital market, but it is also a watershed - the industry is shifting from 'storytelling' to 'seeing results'. ”Dr. Liu Dan further analyzed and pointed out.

So, where is this track currently?

01. The "Three Little Dragons" who have already landed

Three AI pharmaceutical listed companies have emerged in the Hong Kong stock market, known as the "Three Little Dragons" in the industry.

The first one is Jingtai Technology. The company was founded in 2015, and all three founders graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In June 2024, Jingtai Technology went public under the 18C rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first company to complete an IPO in accordance with the 18C rules.

Jingtai is taking the "AI+CRO" route, not directly selling drugs, but providing research and development services such as AI drug discovery platforms and intelligent robot laboratories to pharmaceutical companies.

In 2025, the company achieved a revenue of 803 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 201.2%, and achieved full year profitability for the first time, becoming the first Hong Kong listed company in the AI for Science field to achieve profitability.

The second one is Yingsi Intelligent. The company successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2025, becoming another listed company in the AI pharmaceutical industry.

Unlike Jingtai, Yingsi Intelligent follows the "AI+Biotech" route, utilizing AI to conduct new drug research and development, and achieving commercialization through pipeline authorization (BD). At the time of listing, the company introduced 15 cornerstone investors including Eli Lilly, Tencent, Temasek, Schroder, and UBS, marking the first time that Eli Lilly and Tencent have invested in a biopharmaceutical company as cornerstone investors.

The third one is the latest listed Zhitai Technology. In May of this year, the company officially listed on the Hong Kong stock market, and on the first day of listing, the stock price rose by more than 180% compared to the issue price, with a market value exceeding 34 billion Hong Kong dollars; During the IPO period, it was oversubscribed by 6900 times, becoming one of the highest oversubscription multiples for Hong Kong stocks since 2026.

Compared to most AI pharmaceutical companies that focus on drug discovery, Yitai Technology has chosen a more segmented "AI+nano drug delivery" track, hoping to solve the key problem of "how to accurately deliver drugs to targets".

At this point, Jingtai Technology represents AI drug discovery, Yingsi Intelligence represents AI self-developed pipeline, and Zhitai Technology represents AI drug delivery - the differentiated layout of the three companies basically covers the key links of the AI pharmaceutical industry chain.

When it comes to the development of the AI pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Liu Dan told Yi Yijun, "We have seen that AI pharmaceuticals have truly achieved cost reduction and efficiency improvement in some aspects, and we have also seen some new application scenarios emerge, such as the ability of AI to design protein molecules from scratch, and the combination of AI with automated dry wet experiments, which significantly improves the efficiency of early detection. ” 

02. Second tier, start sprinting

In addition to the "Three Little Dragons", several companies in the domestic AI pharmaceutical industry have reported substantial IPO progress.

Among them, Huashen Zhiyao is at the forefront.

In March of this year, market news reported that this AI driven large molecule drug research and development company was preparing for a Hong Kong IPO with China International Capital Corporation and Morgan Stanley, aiming to raise up to $500 million. The submitting entity was its overseas affiliate Earendil Labs.

Supporting this progress are the commercial achievements that the company has already achieved: since 2025, it has reached two authorized partnerships with Sanofi with a total amount exceeding $4.4 billion; In March of this year, another $787 million in financing was completed, setting a new high for global biotechnology company financing in 2026.

When it comes to Huashen Zhiyao, Dr. Liu Dan told Yi Yijun that "Huashen Zhiyao may be listed in Hong Kong through Earendil Labs registered in Delaware, USA. This is a proactive compliance architecture design to avoid geopolitical risks in the context of the decoupling of China and the United States under the Biosafety Act; The fundamentals are also very good, with the endorsement of long-term cooperation with Sanofi. ”

The news from Baitu Biotechnology followed closely behind.

Also in March this year, market news said that the company led by Robin Lee had secretly submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and was expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

In fact, as early as June 2025, Liu Wei, CEO of Baitu Biotechnology, publicly stated that he hoped to promote the listing in Hong Kong within about a year and a half. However, as of now, Baitu has not responded to the rumors of submitting the application, so the relevant information still needs further confirmation.

Shenshi Technology has also released IPO signals.

In the first half of this year, there were market reports that the company had completed its share reform and changed its name to "Beijing Shenshi Technology Co., Ltd." and its enterprise type to "Limited Liability Company", which was seen as an important signal for the IPO launch.

However, there is currently no official information confirming its specific listing progress.

Dr. Liu Dan pointed out that Shenzhen Shenshi Technology completed its C-round at the end of last year and is actively exploring the path of IPO, but it has not been publicly reported yet. Strictly speaking, it is a platform based company that spans medicine, materials, and energy, not a pure AI pharmaceutical.

At this point, in addition to the "Three Little Dragons" that have successfully gone public, companies such as Huashen Zhiyao, Baitu Shengke, and Shenshi Technology have successively reported their sprint towards the Hong Kong stock market, and the IPO team of AI pharmaceuticals is getting longer and longer.

In contrast, Kehui Zhiyao represents an earlier group of enterprises. Although some pipelines have made progress, they are still in the A-round financing stage and still have some way to go before IPO.

When it comes to the follow-up team, Dr. Liu Dan told Yi Yijun, "Apart from these few companies, we have observed that the financing of AI pharmaceuticals has been quite hot recently. You can see some impressive companies in different model capabilities, business models, disease or modality fields. But to be honest, they may still need more accumulation before IPO. ”

As Dr. Liu Dan said, the heat of the AI pharmaceutical industry is still on the rise, from basic models and protein design to different disease fields and technology routes, a number of new companies are constantly emerging. For example, recently, Platinum Pharmaceuticals and Baitu Biotechnology announced the establishment of MegaStream, an AI based macromolecular drug research and development company, to further enhance AI driven innovative drug research and development. This also reflects that industry resources are still gathering towards this track.
 

03. Why are they all Hong Kong stocks? Who can ultimately escape?

These AI pharmaceutical companies in the queue are likely to converge at the same destination - the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the future.

The reason is not complicated.

AI pharmaceutical companies generally have long research and development cycles, high investment, and long profit cycles. In contrast, Chapter 18C of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is specifically designed for "specialized technology companies", allowing unprofitable hard tech companies to go public, providing a more realistic capital path for AI pharmaceutical companies. Jingtai Technology and Zhitai Technology have both entered the Hong Kong stock market through this rule, becoming important beneficiaries of the 18C system.

At the same time, Hong Kong stocks are also more attractive to international capital.

When Yingsi Intelligent went public, it introduced 15 cornerstone investors including Eli Lilly, Tencent, and Temasek; Jitai Technology has received support from institutions such as BlackRock and UBS; It is rumored that Huashen Zhiyao is preparing for an IPO, with joint sponsors including China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Morgan Stanley, and its international color is consistent.

In contrast, there have been no cases of pure AI pharmaceutical companies going public on the A-share Science and Technology Innovation Board and ChiNext board. Under the influence of multiple factors such as profit requirements, valuation system, and investor structure, Hong Kong stocks have become the preferred market for AI pharmaceutical companies' IPOs at present.

However, investors are now more concerned about whether the company can realize its technological value than the IPO itself.

When it comes to the investment logic of current AI pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Liu Dan told Yi Yijun that different investors have different perspectives on AI pharmaceuticals due to their fund attributes and risk preferences. Funds with a technological background may place more emphasis on the disruptive nature of platforms and algorithms, medical funds may value clinical data and pipeline value more, long-term industrial capital may focus more on BD collaboration and strategic positioning, and state-owned funds may value the long-term development trends of national strategic layout and innovation paradigms. But a common trend is that investment logic is shifting from "early technology platforms" to "monetizing value".

In the early days, most people invested based on their optimism about AI technology itself, but now we are more focused on clinical progress and commercial implementation. ”Dr. Liu Dan spoke frankly.

In the specific evaluation, commercial hematopoietic capacity remains the most realistic threshold. Dr. Liu Dan said, "We will first ask a very simple question: What do you rely on to survive? This is the first watershed that distinguishes between the head and followers.

In his view, different business models correspond to different development paths: AI+CRO+incubation models like Jingtai have good cash flow, low risk, and already profitable; It's still like the self-developed pipeline+BD cooperation model of British Silicon, which has higher risks but greater imagination.

Dr. Liu Dan further pointed out, "Of course, there are also differences here - some investors may turn around and feel that emphasizing profits too much at this stage will actually stifle those companies that have real disruptive potential but are still burning money, so they are willing to pay a premium for long-term imagination space. This is a reasonable difference.

In addition to the business model, Dr. Liu Dan believes that clinical data, BD capabilities, and data barriers are also important indicators for measuring the value of AI pharmaceutical companies. In addition, factors such as platform differentiation, team capabilities, cash flow, and geographic factors are all key considerations in investor evaluation logic

He pointed out that AI has demonstrated efficiency advantages in the drug discovery stage, but the industry still needs to be tested by clinical data. "So far, there has not been a truly AI led discovery and design new drug successfully launched globally, and the next few years will be the time window for this batch of AI designed molecules to undergo large-scale clinical testing. ”

At the same time, multinational pharmaceutical companies' willingness to pay down payments and milestone payments for BD cooperation is the most convincing third-party verification. However, Dr. Liu Dan bluntly stated, "What we are looking at is the locked cash and real products, not the potential total amount.

In the long run, the real determinant of competitiveness is data barriers, algorithms are the ticket to entry, and data flywheels are the real moat.

In Dr. Liu Dan's view, the AI algorithm itself is constantly iterating, but the real moat is whether it can form a self reinforcing cycle: AI design, automated laboratory testing, and real-time feedback of data to the model iteration; In China, there is still a certain threshold for obtaining medical data, and whether data silos can be gradually broken will become the biggest variable in this moat.

- Freehand summary -

From the IPO boom, to multi billion dollar BD transactions, and to sustained active financing, AI pharmaceuticals are entering a new stage of resonance between capital and industry.

At the same time, the industry is also entering a new stage of value verification. Dr. Liu Dan believes that there is a hidden "belief premium" in the current valuation of the entire AI pharmaceutical industry, and whether this premium can be realized ultimately depends on clinical data to answer. However, he also emphasized that the value of AI pharmaceuticals does not necessarily have to wait until the first AI new drug is launched to prove it. "The value of AI could have been offset by the efficiency improvement in early detection. ”In his view, the two judgments are not contradictory, the difference lies in whether investors choose short-term certainty or long-term possibility.

In the future, as more clinical data is released and commercialization continues to advance, the AI pharmaceutical industry will also usher in a more mature development cycle.