Hanmi Pharmaceutical said it is launching new development projects in the field of dual- and multi-antibody-based immunotherapy drugs through open innovation with external technologies.

Hanmi headquarters in Bangi-dong, eastern Seoul.

The company's open innovation projects include a licensing-in deal for an antibody from Phanes Therapeutics', a U.S. biopharmaceutical firm, and expanding new drug development program for Pentambody, a platform technology developed by Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical, the company's Chinese offshoot.

Hanmi plans to combine the two technologies in developing a treatment.

Pentambody is a next-generation dual antibody platform technology, in which one antibody binds to two different targets simultaneously. The Beijing branch of the company established a global partnership for joint development and commercialization for the drug with Innovent Biologics, China's leading biotech company, in 2017.

Hanmi plans to develop a dual- and multi-antibody-based immunotherapy by applying Phanes' antibody sequence to Pentambody.

The company will be responsible for the research, development, production, and commercialization of new immunotherapy, and has exclusive global rights in all cancer-related indications.

The two companies will distribute the profits in the future, but the company did not disclose the terms of the agreement.

"Phanes has demonstrated its superiority through various programs that are expected to be of clinically useful in the field of immunotherapy," Phanes Therapeutics CEO Mina Wang said. "We are pleased to be able to move toward the goal of providing new treatment options for cancer patients through this joint development partnership with Hanmi."

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Kwon Se-chang said, "We look forward to working with Phanes, a promising company in the field of immunotherapeutic drugs, to expand the scope of Pentambody and to develop an innovative cancer treatment."

Based on the close cooperation between the two companies, the company will do its best to create global innovative new drugs, Kwon said.

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