Hanmi’s ₩5T Deal Run With Genentech and Lilly

As of August 29, 2026, Hanmi Pharmaceutical has racked up two global licensing deals worth a combined 5 trillion won (~$3.6B) in just three months — handing obesity and metabolic-disease candidate HM17321 to Roche's Genentech, and short bowel syndrome candidate sonepeglutide to Eli Lilly before that. The confirmed upfront payments from both deals alone add up to 1.5 times Hanmi's entire operating profit last year.

$2.3 billionMaximum total milestone payments in the Genentech deal for HM17321

262.9 billion won (~$190M)Confirmed upfront payment from Genentech

1.9 trillion won (~$1.38B)Maximum total value of the Lilly sonepeglutide deal

116.9%Year-over-year growth in Q2 operating profit

Key points

On August 24, Hanmi Pharmaceutical signed an exclusive licensing deal with Roche's Genentech for HM17321, an obesity and metabolic-disease drug candidate.
Earlier in June, Hanmi handed Eli Lilly the development, manufacturing, and commercialization rights to sonepeglutide, a treatment candidate for short bowel syndrome.
Combined confirmed upfront payments from both deals total 375.8 billion won, 1.5 times Hanmi's entire operating profit for last year.
Hanmi has consistently poured roughly 14-15% of its revenue into R&D over the past several years.

This summer, Hanmi Pharmaceutical closed two global licensing deals back to back, pushing its cumulative deal value past the 5-trillion-won mark. In June, it handed Eli Lilly the rights to a short bowel syndrome treatment candidate, and on August 24 it announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Roche's Genentech for HM17321, an obesity and metabolic-disease drug candidate. The confirmed upfront payments from the two deals alone add up to 375.8 billion won — 1.5 times more than Hanmi's entire operating profit for all of last year.

HM17321, now in Genentech's hands, is a non-incretin drug candidate modeled on a signaling molecule called UCN2 (urocortin-2), and it's currently in Phase 1 trials involving healthy adults and obese patients. Once Hanmi wraps up that first phase, Genentech will take over global clinical development. In exchange for exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell the drug everywhere except South Korea, Genentech is paying Hanmi a confirmed upfront fee of 262.9 billion won (~$190 million), plus milestone payments tied to development, regulatory approval and sales that could push the total to as much as $2.3 billion — roughly 3.2 trillion won. Researchers say the candidate is designed to address the muscle-loss side effects seen with existing obesity drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro.

The earlier Lilly deal covered sonepeglutide, aimed at short bowel syndrome — a condition in which a shortened small intestine impairs nutrient absorption. That drug is now in global Phase 2 trials. The deal is worth up to $1.26 billion (about 1.9 trillion won) in total, including a $75 million (about 112.9 billion won) upfront payment. That upfront payment helped push Hanmi's second-quarter operating profit to 131.1 billion won, up 116.9% year-over-year.

Analysts point to sustained R&D investment as the foundation for this run of deals. Hanmi has funneled roughly 14-15% of revenue into R&D in recent years, with R&D spending climbing from 205 billion won in 2023 to 229 billion won last year, and reaching 125.5 billion won in the first half of this year alone — up 18.2% from the same period last year. Since 2023, the company has run an in-house initiative spanning obesity drug development and easier-to-take formulations, and it's preparing to launch its obesity drug "Efpe" later this year. Analysts also flag remaining pipeline candidates like HM15275 and HM-500197 as possible targets for further licensing deals.

In Korea right nowKorea's pharma and biotech industry sees the deals as more than one company's earnings bump — a sign of a broader trend. Combined technology-licensing exports from Korean pharma and biotech firms totaled about $15 billion last year; already-disclosed deals through August this year add up to more than $11 billion, raising the possibility of a new annual record. Shares of both Hanmi Pharmaceutical and its holding company Hanmi Science rallied after the deal announcements, and some in the industry credit a reorganization of the business development team under Hanmi Science Vice Chairman Kim Jae-kyo for the string of big deals.

FAQ

What disease is HM17321 being developed to treat?

It's aimed at metabolic conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and it's designed to reduce body weight while minimizing muscle loss.

How much is the Genentech deal actually worth?

The confirmed upfront payment is about 262.9 billion won (~$190 million), and including all future development, approval and commercialization milestones, the total could reach as much as $2.3 billion, or roughly 3.2 trillion won.

Has Hanmi signed major licensing deals like this before?

Yes. In 2015, it struck a string of deals with France's Sanofi, Janssen, Eli Lilly, and Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim, together worth about 8 trillion won in a single year — though some of those deals were later returned.