Hanmi Pharmaceutical posted strong second-quarter results, driven by a major licensing-out agreement with Eli Lilly. The performance is attributed to the reflection of about 112.9 billion won in upfront payment received last month.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical said in a preliminary filing on the 28th that its second-quarter revenue rose 29.3% from a year earlier to 467.2 billion won on a consolidated basis. Operating profit increased 116.9% to 131.1 billion won, and net profit grew 95.5% to 84.1 billion won.
The earnings growth was led by the recognition of the technology transfer upfront payment received from Eli Lilly. Last month, Hanmi Pharmaceutical signed a licensing-out agreement with Eli Lilly for "sonepeglutide," a glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-2 class new drug candidate for short bowel syndrome. The total deal is worth up to $1.26 billion (about 1.9 trillion won), of which the confirmed upfront payment Hanmi Pharmaceutical received was $75 million (about 112.9 billion won).
The results were also driven by growth in flagship products such as the dyslipidemia treatment "Rosuzet" and expanded co-marketing with global pharmaceutical companies. According to data compiled by pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST, Hanmi Pharmaceutical's outpatient prescription sales in the first half reached 561.6 billion won. Hanmi Pharmaceutical has maintained the No. 1 position in domestic outpatient prescription sales for eight consecutive years since 2018. Among these, Rosuzet's second-quarter outpatient prescription sales rose 10.1% from a year earlier to 61.6 billion won, while the hypertension treatment "Amosartan Family" and the gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment "Esomezol Family" recorded 37 billion won and 14.6 billion won, respectively.
However, results varied by subsidiary. Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical posted revenue of 60.7 billion won, down about 30% from a year earlier, due to the seasonal off-peak period and the impact of China's centralized procurement system, which drives down drug prices. Active pharmaceutical ingredient affiliate Hanmi Fine Chemical recorded revenue of 24 billion won, boosted by API exports to Japan and expanded new orders in high-margin contract development and manufacturing (CDMO), with operating profit rising 76.7%.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical plans to continue its profit structure centered on in-house developed products. The company said it invested 60.3 billion won, or 12.9% of second-quarter revenue, in research and development (R&D). Hanmi Pharmaceutical is currently developing more than 30 new drug pipelines in the areas of obesity and metabolism, rare diseases, and oncology. The company is preparing to commercialize the GLP-1 obesity drug "efpeglenatide" within the year, while also conducting U.S. clinical trials of the triple agonist "HM15275" and the muscle-building obesity treatment "HM17321." Hwang Sang-yeon, CEO of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, stressed, "We will concentrate company-wide capabilities on innovation to create future growth engines."
Meanwhile, Hanmi Pharmaceutical's cumulative first-half revenue was 860.2 billion won, up 14.4% from a year earlier. Operating profit was 184.7 billion won and net profit was 135.2 billion won, up 54.6% and 54.2%, respectively. A company official said, "We expect to achieve record revenue again this year."
