Boehringer Ingelheim Returns Liver Disease Treatment Candidate Compound Technology to Yuhan Corporation

Yuhan Corporation: "No Financial Loss Incurred"

Yuhan Corporation Headquarters. Photo by Yuhan Corporation

Yuhan Corporation announced on the 7th that it has been notified by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim of the return of the technology for a candidate drug for liver disease treatment.

The substance in question is 'BI 3006337 (YH25724)', a dual-action antibody targeting glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 21, which Yuhan Corporation licensed out to Boehringer Ingelheim in July 2019. At that time, the two companies entered into a joint development and licensing agreement for innovative drug development, aiming to develop it as a treatment for metabolic abnormality-related nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (MASH) and related liver diseases.

Boehringer Ingelheim plans to return the licensed rights. Yuhan Corporation stated that it intends to continue developing the substance based on the potential to meet unmet medical needs of patients and positive safety results from clinical trials.

A Yuhan Corporation official said, "The upfront payment of $40 million (approximately 57.9 billion KRW) and milestone royalties of $10 million (approximately 14.4 billion KRW) received from the technology export are not subject to return obligations, so there is no financial loss."