Hanmi Pharmaceutical disclosed Sunday it has licensed its oral drug delivery technology to Gilead Sciences, resurrecting value from an asset that spent years tied up in a failed partnership.
The South Korean company granted Gilead exclusive rights to encequidar—an absorption enhancer discovered through Hanmi’s Orascovery platform—for antiviral development. Hanmi and UK partner Health Hope Pharma will supply the compound and share technical know-how under the agreement, though financial terms weren’t revealed.
The deal marks a recovery for technology Hanmi originally licensed to Athenex in 2011. When Athenex collapsed, rights eventually transferred to HHP, leaving Hanmi’s innovation in regulatory uncertainty for years. The company has now carved out virology rights for Gilead while HHP pursues oncology applications.
Encequidar works by inhibiting P-glycoprotein, potentially enabling injectable antivirals to be reformulated as pills. Whether Gilead will deploy the technology remains unclear—the company already has oral and injectable HIV therapies in development, and no timeline was provided for encequidar-based products.
For Hanmi, the licensing fee and potential milestone payments represent monetization of older research and development spending. CEO Jae-Hyun Park said the agreement validates Hanmi’s formulation capabilities, according to the company’s statement.
