韩美药品与Genentech及礼来累计5万亿韩元技术授权协议被媒体回顾性报道，无新增催化

Hanmi Pharmaceutical (128940) has signed back-to-back licensing deals worth up to 5 trillion won with Genentech and Eli Lilly over the past three months, results that analysts attribute to the drugmaker's steady spending on research and development. The company, which has channeled 14% to 15% of annual revenue into R&D, is expanding its pipeline around obesity and metabolic disease, drawing attention to the prospect of further out-licensing deals.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical said on the 30th that it concluded two technology transfer agreements between June and August this year, with a combined value of up to 5.0865 trillion won based on regulatory filings. Upfront payments from the two deals total 375.8 billion won, or about 1.5 times the company's operating profit of 257.8 billion won last year.
The more recent agreement, signed on the 24th, covers the out-licensing to Genentech of HM17321, a UCN2 analog being developed for obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases. The candidate is in Phase 1 trials. The goal is a drug that delivers weight loss while preserving muscle mass. The deal is valued at up to $2.3 billion (about 3.1892 trillion won), including clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization milestones, with an upfront payment of $190 million (about 262.9 billion won), or 8% of the total.
In June, Hanmi Pharmaceutical signed a license agreement with Eli Lilly for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of sonepeglutide, a biologic drug candidate. The candidate is in global Phase 2 trials for short bowel syndrome, a condition that arises when part of the small intestine is missing. That deal is valued at up to $1.26 billion (about 1.8973 trillion won), including a $75 million (about 112.9 billion won) upfront payment.
Helped by the Lilly agreement, Hanmi Pharmaceutical's second-quarter operating profit jumped 116.9% from a year earlier to 131.1 billion won.
The licensing wins are seen as a payoff from research spending. Since 2023, the company has been running H.O.P (Hanmi Obesity Pipeline), a drug development program spanning weight loss and its quality, easier dosing of obesity treatments and post-weight-loss management. It is also preparing to commercialize its obesity drug Efe within the year.
Over the same period, the company has invested about 14% to 15% of annual revenue in research and development, with spending rising each year to 205.0 billion won in 2023, 209.8 billion won in 2024 and 229.0 billion won last year. In the first half of this year, it spent 125.5 billion won, up 18.2% from a year earlier.
With Hanmi Pharmaceutical's deals added in, South Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech licensing exports could set a record this year. Last year's total came to about $15 billion, while the disclosed value of agreements signed through August this year has already passed $11 billion (about 15 trillion won).