Hanmi Pharmaceutical (128940.KS) and its holding company Hanmi Science (008930.KS) surged in pre-market trading (8:00-8:50 a.m.) on news of a technology licensing deal.
According to Nextrade on Wednesday, Hanmi Pharmaceutical was trading at 573,000 won, up 82,000 won (16.70%) from the previous session, while Hanmi Science rose 4,350 won (13.70%) to 36,100 won as of around 8:05 a.m. Buying interest poured in after Hanmi Pharmaceutical signed a licensing agreement with U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly for the global development and commercialization of "sonepeglutide," a glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2)-based new drug candidate.
Sonepeglutide is a candidate substance to which Hanmi Pharmaceutical's long-acting biopharmaceutical platform technology, LAPSCOVERY, has been applied. It is being developed based on GLP-2's effects on intestinal growth promotion, intestinal mucosal protection, and regeneration, and is currently undergoing global Phase 2 clinical trials for short bowel syndrome.
Under the agreement, Hanmi Pharmaceutical will conduct the ongoing global Phase 2 clinical trial for short bowel syndrome through to completion. Lilly will then pursue additional clinical development based on the secured preclinical and clinical data. Lilly has obtained exclusive rights to the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of sonepeglutide worldwide, excluding Korea.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical will receive an upfront payment of $75 million (approximately 112.9 billion won). It can receive up to an additional $1.185 billion (approximately 1.7844 trillion won), including milestones tied to clinical development, approval, and commercialization stages. Separate sales royalties will also be paid following product launch.
The total contract value, combining the upfront payment and milestones, reaches up to $1.26 billion (approximately 1.9 trillion won). Hanmi Pharmaceutical has secured a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved product among its biologic new drugs based on the LAPSCOVERY platform, and is conducting global clinical trials for five candidate substances based on the same technology.
