Seoul-based Hanmi Pharmaceutical has started sales of non-small cell lung cancer therapy Olita--a drug developed locally that is licensed outside the country to ZAI Lab and Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim.
Olita (olmutinib), the Korea Herald reports, was approved in South Korea earlier this month for patients that have locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive NSCLC and have previously received an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.
The drug, formerly candidate HM61713, was part of a KRW850 billion ($730 million) exclusive license agreement with the private pharmaceutical company Boehringer last year, providing worldwide exclusive rights (except in Korea, China and Hong Kong). Meanwhile, Chinese ZAI Lab won exclusive rights in China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Hanmi has been at the center of series of high-profile licensing deals since 2015, including with Eli Lilly ($LLY), Sanofi ($SNY) and the Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
In April, the company announced a major expansion in China that would see about $200 million invested in the Shandong province on a greenfield manufacturing plant and R&D center, which is expected to be finished in 2026 and is set to make chemosynthetic and biological drugs, as well as health foods.
- here's the story from the Korea Times