Hanmi Pharm licenses obesity drug candidate HM17321 to Roche’s Genentech in US$2.3B deal
Hanmi is developing the HM17321 therapy as a potential first-in-class treatment that could promote weight loss while helping preserve lean body mass.
SOUTH KOREA—Hanmi Pharm has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Roche Group’s Genentech to develop, manufacture, and commercialize its investigational metabolic treatment candidate HM17321 (UCN2) globally, excluding South Korea.
The agreement covers the development of HM17321 for obesity and related conditions, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Under the deal, Hanmi will receive an upfront payment of US$190 million from Genentech, while the total value could reach about US$2.3 billion, including development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments.
Hanmi will also be eligible for tiered royalties on future product sales.
Potential new approach to obesity treatment
HM17321 is a proprietary urocortin-2 (UCN2) analogue that works through a non-incretin mechanism.
Hanmi is developing the peptide-based therapy as a potential first-in-class treatment that could promote weight loss while helping preserve lean body mass.
The candidate is designed to address an emerging challenge in obesity treatment. Although GLP-1-based incretin therapies can produce substantial weight loss, some of the weight lost may come from lean body mass.
Hanmi therefore aims to develop HM17321 as an approach that can selectively reduce fat while maintaining or improving muscle mass.
In preclinical studies, HM17321 produced quantitative and qualitative improvements in weight reduction both as a standalone treatment and when combined with GLP-1-based therapies.
Its peptide-based design could also support future development of fixed-dose combination products or combination treatment regimens alongside incretin therapies.
Clinical development
In November 2025, Hanmi received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial of HM17321.
The ongoing study is assessing the candidate’s safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in healthy volunteers and people living with obesity.
Hanmi will complete the Phase 1 study before Genentech assumes responsibility for further development, beginning with Phase 2 clinical trials.
In-Young Choi, senior executive vice president and head of the R&D Division at Hanmi Pharm, said obesity treatment is increasingly moving beyond weight reduction toward improving body composition and restoring metabolic health.
He added that the agreement reflects recognition of HM17321’s differentiated mechanism and development potential.
Roche expands cardiometabolic pipeline
Boris L. Zaïtra, head of Roche Corporate Business Development, said Roche is expanding its cardiometabolic pipeline to address the diverse needs of people living with obesity and related conditions.
He said licensing HM17321 gives Roche and Genentech an opportunity to pursue a differentiated treatment strategy that selectively reduces fat mass while improving muscle mass and function.
He added that the companies look forward to advancing the investigational therapy to address unmet needs in obesity and other metabolic diseases.
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