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Hong Kong Dx Firm Prenetics Shares Down 9 Percent on First Day on Nasdaq

NEW YORK – Genomics and diagnostics company Prenetics ended its first day as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq on Wednesday with its stock down 9 percent.

In early morning trading Thursday, shares of the company continued to fall as its stock price was down 29 percent to $5.41.

The Hong Kong-based firm began trading on the Nasdaq after announcing its merger with Artisan Acquisition in September. At the time Prenetics was valued at $1.25 billion with a combined equity value of $1.7 billion, and it said it was the first Hong Kong-based unicorn to be publicly listed in any market. Under the deal, Prenetics said it would receive up to $459 million in cash, including up to $339 million held in Artisan's trust and forward purchase agreements of $120 million.

Earlier this month, the company reported that its Q1 revenues increased 60 percent year over year to $92.0 million, driven by demand for its diagnostics and genetic testing services.

Prenetics currently offers its Circle HealthPod point-of-care and at-home rapid detection system for infectious diseases, which received CE marking in August. The firm also offers whole-exome sequencing directly to consumers via its CircleDNA brand.

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