M&A
Roche pays $190M upfront for obesity drug rights
Biotech
M&A
Key Facts
Signal Type
M&A
Industry
Biotech
Companies
Roche, Genentech, Hanmi Pharm, Carmot Therapeutics, 89bio
Date
Roche's Genentech unit paid $190M upfront for global rights (ex-South Korea) to Hanmi Pharm's HM17321, a CRF2 receptor-targeting obesity drug. Preclinical data shows weight loss with lean muscle preservation - a key differentiator from current GLP-1 drugs.
Roche accelerates its obesity strategy after 2023 acquisitions of Carmot Therapeutics and 89bio. Hanmi Pharm gains validation and milestone payments. Competitors like Lilly (which abandoned UCN2 in 2019) may revisit the mechanism.
Phase 1 data from Hanmi's ongoing trial will determine Roche's Phase 2 timeline. Roche continues seeking novel obesity mechanisms, with three current pillars: incretins (Carmot assets), amylins (petrelintide), and FGF21 analogs (89bio).
Source:
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