Hanmi Inks Record Korean Deal, With Boehringer For Cancer Therapy
Hanmi Pharmaceutical continues to lead South Korean pharma innovators by reaching a series of major licensing out deals. Following the major agreement with Lilly for its oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor earlier this year, Hanmi has now inked an even bigger license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim, for a novel non-small cell lung cancer therapy HM61713 that will beef up the German firm's oncology portfolio.
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More from South Korea
While Korean biopharma companies’ out-licensing deals have remained lackluster in the past couple of years, activity around emerging modalities, led by ADCs, have been increasing in line with global trends.
As investor sentiment around Korean biopharma IPOs and financings remained tepid in the second quarter, companies turned to other ways of raising money, including rights offerings. But there are signs of recovery and upcoming catalysts, while on the M&A front Boryung divested a vaccine subsidiary to a private equity consortium.
As it reported mixed second-quarter earnings, South Korea's pharma industry is increasingly turning to obesity pipeline assets. Meanwhile, leadership disputes among family members within Hanmi are resurfacing.
A novel stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease developed by a Korean firm has shown what Citeline analysts describe as "very promising" early clinical results at a low dose after one year.
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