Roche to Acquire Hanmi Obesity Drug for Up to $3.5 Billion, With Potential to Preserve Lean Mass

Roche has acquired Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s obesity treatment candidate for up to $2.5 billion (approximately 3.5 trillion won).

According to U.S. pharmaceutical trade publication Fierce Pharma on the 28th local time, Roche agreed to pay $190 million upfront for Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s clinical-stage UCN2 analog candidate HM17321. The deal also includes up to $2.3 billion in additional payments upon the achievement of development milestones.

Roche expects the candidate to induce weight loss by reducing body fat while preserving lean mass, including muscle. The company plans to expand its indications beyond obesity to related cardiometabolic diseases.

Akeso’s bispecific antibody ivonescimab demonstrated an improvement in overall survival compared with AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi in a phase 3 biliary tract cancer trial, marking its first success outside lung cancer. However, CEO Michelle Xia took a defensive stance in response to concerns that the data had weakened in the long-term analysis of the first-line trial in squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told Fierce Pharma, “The United States has focused only on measuring the outcomes of strategic scenarios involving China and has not paid sufficient attention to the inputs,” adding, “China is ahead of us in execution on the ground.”

Hansoh Pharmaceutical said in its first-half earnings report that China’s biotechnology industry “is fully transitioning from the follower stage to the leader stage.” The company cited China’s share of 30% of clinical-trial drugs worldwide as evidence.

SK Biopharmaceuticals acquired Biohaven’s Kv7 ion channel platform for an upfront payment of $350 million. The company plans to leverage its experience with its epilepsy treatment Xcopri in the development and commercialization of opacalim, which is in phase 2/3 development for patients with focal-onset seizures.