Korea-US Oral Anticancer Drug Platform Technology 'OraDiscovery' Transferred to Hong Kong's 'Seamer'

Hanmi Pharmaceutical's oral anticancer drug-related platform technology, 'Orascovery,' will be transferred to C-Mer Eye Care Holdings, a comprehensive healthcare company based in Hong Kong.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Headquarters. [Photo by Hanmi Pharmaceutical]

Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced on the 10th that Athenex, which had licensed the Orascovery technology in 2011, recently signed a contract to transfer its assets to C-Mer through liquidation, resulting in the transfer of Orascovery and related assets to the company. According to the contract, the rights to the Orascovery technology and the oral anticancer drugs under development based on it will be transferred to C-Mer worldwide, excluding South Korea.

Orascovery is a platform technology that converts injectable anticancer drugs into oral formulations. Until recently, Athenex had been developing oral anticancer drugs such as 'Oralaxel' using this technology.

A Hanmi Pharmaceutical official said, "We are grateful to Athenex for their long-term dedication to development," and added, "We expect C-Mer, to which the technology has been transferred, to create new value." Hanmi Pharmaceutical also stated that the value proportion of Orascovery and related assets in Hanmi Pharmaceutical's corporate value, based on market capitalization evaluated by major securities firms, is less than 0.5%.

C-Mer is a comprehensive healthcare company headquartered in Hong Kong, providing various specialized services including oncology. It owns 70 medical facilities in major cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou in China. Last year, it achieved sales of HKD 1.73 billion (approximately KRW 290 billion), and as of the 7th, its market capitalization was HKD 4.788 billion (approximately KRW 800 billion).

Meanwhile, under the contract, Hanmi Pharmaceutical may receive success fees from approvals or product sales utilizing the platform. Separately, it can also receive a certain percentage of sales as running royalties.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.