Akeso (HKG:9926) said it will raise about HK$3.49 billion in net proceeds by issuing 23.55 million new shares at HK$149.54 each under its general mandate, according to a Thursday Hong Kong bourse filing.

The placing price represents a nearly 4.8% discount to the last close and an 11% discount to the five-day average.

The new shares account for about 2.6% of the existing share capital.

Akeso said it will use 80% of the proceeds to fund global and China R&D, platforms, and infrastructure build-out. Another 10% is earmarked for the commercialization of approved products, with the remaining for general corporate purposes.

Separately, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Xia Yu and Chief Scientific Officer Li Baiyong will sell 3 million existing shares, or about 0.3% of issued stock, at the same price.