[THE INVESTOR] Hanmi Pharmaceutical has signed a licensing agreement with Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, to develop and commercialize HM95573, a new drug candidate for targeted cancer therapy, it announced on Sept. 29.

Genentech will own exclusive rights to develop and commercialize HM95573 worldwide except for South Korea, and will pay US$80 million upfront and US$830 million in milestone payments. The full agreement has not been disclosed.

HM95573 is a second generation inhibitor of RAF kinase, a protein that is related to cancer, and is under phase 1 of clinical trials, for which the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare is funding 600 million won (US$545,843). 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical is the country’s third-largest pharmaceutical company by sales volume, with 490.9 billion won turnover in the first half of 2016, and is the leader in research and development.

Genentech is a leading biopharmaceutical company with US$17.3 billion annual revenue from cancer and arthritis treating antibody Rituxan and breast cancer treatment Herceptin.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)