Overview
- Hanmi announced Monday that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Genentech giving Roche’s unit rights to develop, manufacture and sell HM17321 worldwide outside South Korea in a deal that pays Hanmi $190 million up front and could total about $2.3 billion with milestones and royalties.
- HM17321 is a peptide UCN2 (urocortin‑2) analog with a non‑incretin mechanism that Hanmi says is designed to shrink fat mass while preserving or improving lean muscle.
- Hanmi received U.S. FDA IND clearance in November 2025 and is running a Phase 1 trial to assess safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; Hanmi will finish Phase 1 and Genentech will lead Phase 2 and later stages.
- Investors reacted strongly to the announcement, sending Hanmi shares up to the daily 30% trading limit on the KOSPI exchange.
- The companies highlighted preclinical data showing HM17321’s weight‑loss and body‑composition benefits alone and combined with GLP‑1 drugs, a positioning that could spur fixed‑dose combinations and new combination regimens if human trials confirm the effects.