Hanmi Pharmaceutical seals 1.9 trillion won megadeal with Eli Lilly; Oscotec closes 1 trillion won technology export with Agios
South Korea's biotech industry rattled global markets Monday after two homegrown drugmakers announced back-to-back technology licensing deals totaling 2.9 trillion won in a single day.
Industry observers say the twin deals mark a decisive qualitative leap for K-biotech — moving beyond the headline-grabbing but often hollow trillion-won contracts of the past toward agreements that secure substantial upfront cash from global partners, reflecting genuine advances in domestic drug development capabilities.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical and Oscotec each signed major license-out agreements Monday — Hanmi with global pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, and Oscotec with Agios Pharmaceuticals, a US rare-disease biotech — valued at approximately 1.9 trillion won and 1 trillion won, respectively.
For Hanmi, the deal signals a triumphant return for one of Korea's most storied pharmaceutical names. The company signed a BTK inhibitor licensing agreement with Lilly in 2015 for an immune disease treatment, only to have the rights returned in 2019. The new contract marks Hanmi's first major technology export with Lilly in 11 years, lending the announcement particular resonance.
The asset Hanmi licensed out, sonepeglutatide, is a candidate treatment for short bowel syndrome, a rare disease, developed using the company's proprietary drug-duration platform LAPSCOVERY.
The deal carries broader significance: Lilly — the dominant force in the global obesity and metabolic disease market — committed $75 million (about 112.9 billion won) in non-refundable upfront payments, a clear endorsement of Hanmi's platform technology. Securing a total deal value of $1.26 billion (about 1.9 trillion won) for a Phase 2 rare-disease asset is considered rare even by global drug licensing standards.
"It is deeply meaningful that Lilly, one of the world's most closely watched innovators, has recognized the development potential of sonepeglutatide," said Lim Joo-hyun, vice chairwoman of Hanmi Group.
Oscotec's achievement that same day was equally striking. The company had previously transferred the original compound behind Yuhan Corporation's lung cancer drug Leclaza (lazertinib), laying the groundwork for its global commercialization. Monday's deal marks Oscotec's third technology export in its corporate history, a record milestone.
The asset Oscotec licensed to Agios is sevidoplenib, an oral candidate treatment for autoimmune diseases. The compound has completed global Phase 2 trials for immune thrombocytopenia and rheumatoid arthritis, accumulating safety and efficacy data, and has received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Oscotec secured $25 million (about 37.5 billion won) in non-refundable upfront payments, which it will split with its subsidiary Genosco in a 75-to-25 ratio. The deal gives Oscotec the financial firepower to concentrate its medium- and long-term R&D efforts on next-generation resistance-overcoming anticancer drugs.
"We look forward to sevidoplenib continuing its multifaceted development journey, drawing on Agios's deep expertise in rare immune diseases, and ultimately becoming a global new drug that brings hope to patients worldwide," said Yoon Tae-young, chief executive of Oscotec.
Industry insiders say the back-to-back megadeals offer the clearest evidence yet of a structural transformation in K-biotech. "As both companies use the upfront cash inflows to reinvest in follow-on pipeline R&D, they will establish a virtuous cycle that will sharply accelerate K-biotech's global influence," one industry official said.
silverpaper@heraldcorp.com
