Roche bets up to $2.3B on Hanmi’s early-stage muscle-building obesity asset

Roche, through its subsidiary Genentech, has signed a licensing agreement with South Korea's Hanmi Pharm for an obesity drug candidate called HM17321. The deal is worth up to $2.3 billion, with Hanmi Pharm receiving $190 million upfront.

The drug, a long-acting uro-cortin-2 (UCN2) analog, is designed to reduce body fat while preserving and increasing muscle mass. According to Hanmi Pharm, it operates through a non-incretin mechanism of action and has shown promise in preclinical studies, reducing weight when used as a monotherapy and when combined with GLP-1-based therapies.

Genentech will have exclusive rights to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize HM17321 worldwide, except in Korea, where Hanmi Pharm will retain the rights. The deal includes development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on future product sales.

Brief written by urgent.news from Endpoints News, The Korea Times, Investing.com — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.