Hanmi Pharma shares crash after shock contract termination
pharmafile | September 30, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development | Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Germany, HM61713, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Tagrisso, south korea
News broke on 29 September that Hanmi Pharma, South Korea’s leading drug maker, had signed a $910 million deal with US-based Genentech for the technology required to make a cancer drug. Shares rose considerably on the news only to be hit by the news on the following morning that Boehringer Ingelheim will return its license of HM61713 to the South Korean company.
HM61713 is a third-generation cancer-fighting drug for the treatment of lung cancer patients who have developed a resistance to existing drugs on the market. A Hanmi Pharmaceutical spokesperson commented that “Boehringer Ingelheim decided to return its rights on HM61713 after reevaluating clinical data on the drug and recent trend on lung cancer treatment”.
It is thought that the German pharmaceutical giant, who hold the exclusive rights to the drug’s worldwide sales, except in Korea, China and Hong Kong, were carrying out Phase III clinical trials on the drug. They were aiming to submit the drug for approval to the FDA and EMA this year. The trials were suspended as the advantage the drug held over Tagrisso, a drug similar to lung cancer treatment created by AstraZeneca, seemed to be losing ground.
The blow hit shares of Hanmi Pharmaceutical hard, with shares plummeting by 18%.
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