Hanmi Pharmaceutical surged to its daily limit after announcing a licensing agreement worth up to 3.2 trillion won ($2.3 billion) to transfer a next-generation obesity drug candidate to U.S. drugmaker Genentech. Parent company Hanmi Science also posted a double-digit gain, with Hanmi Group shares rising together.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical shares jumped to the upper price limit, trading at 540,000 won, up 124,000 won, or 29.96%, from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange on the 24th. Hanmi Science, the group's holding company and Hanmi Pharmaceutical's parent, was up 18.35% at the same time.
The large-scale licensing deal announced that day is seen as driving the share prices higher. According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, Hanmi Pharmaceutical signed the licensing agreement with Genentech, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Roche Group, for the obesity drug candidate "HM17321." Under the deal, Hanmi Pharmaceutical grants Genentech an exclusive license to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize HM17321 worldwide, excluding Korea.
According to the filing, the deal is worth up to $2.305 billion (about 3.19 trillion won). Hanmi Pharmaceutical will first receive an upfront payment of about $190 million. Milestone payments tied to clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization total $2.115 billion, and the company will separately receive royalties based on sales after the product launches.
HM17321 is a long-acting UCN2 analog that selectively activates the CRF2 receptor, a candidate being developed to target both weight loss and muscle preservation. It is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in the United States, after which Genentech will take over development from Phase 2.
