Leading South Korean drugmaker Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Monday it has sealed a 1-trillion won ($863 million) licensing agreement with Janssen on a new experimental diabetes and obesity drug.

The deal marks the latest among Hanmi’s string of mega licensing agreements with global pharmaceutical companies, including a 5 trillion won deal with France-based Sanofi concluded just last Thursday and two similar deals with Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly signed earlier this year.

Under the latest agreement, Hanmi will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and an additional $810 million for development, registration and sales milestones from Janssen, the pharmaceutical unit of U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson.

In return, Janssen will obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize HM12525A, a diabetes and obesity treatment developed with Hanmi’s exclusive biologics technology which controls insulin levels and appetite. Led by Janssen, the drug will enter Phase II clinical trials next year.

Similar to its previous deal with Sanofi, Hanmi will receive double-digit royalties on net sales of HM12525A after the drug is commercialized, while retaining the exclusive option to cocommercialize the product in Korea and China.

“We hope to introduce novel treatments for diabetes and obesity patients in partnership with Janssen, which possesses much experience in the field ranging from new drug development to clinical trials and marketing,” said Hanmi CEO and president Lee Gwan-sun.

HM12525A is based on Hanmi’s GLP-1 diabetes treatment, a byproduct of the firm’s “Quantum Project,” which develops new drugs utilizing its exclusive proprietary long-acting protein and peptide discovery platform technology, dubbed Lapscovery technology.

As Lapscovery technology enables longer-lasting treatment effects with fewer drug dosages, some industry watchers expect GLP-1 to become applicable in treating a range of new conditions in addition to diabetes and obesity.

Hanmi’s recent set of mega deals with global partners come after years of continued dedication toward new drug research and development, which are finally beginning to see tangible results, analysts said.

Since 2009, the firm has shifted its focus from manufacturing generic copies of existing drugs to developing new drugs through intensive R&D, reportedly injecting a total of 900 billion won into R&D over the past 15 years.

By Sohn Ji-young  (jys@heraldcorp.com)