Handok ready to speed up novel drug pipeline via new R&D hub

Handok will strengthen its pipelines of novel therapies and speed up new drug discovery at various R&D stages in a more synergistic environment to be realized through a new campus, according to the company’s Chairman and CEO Kim Young-jin.

The completion of Handok Future Complex in Magok, west of Seoul, which was inaugurated last month, represents the company’s culminating project to take its R&D outlay to another level, Kim told Maeil Business Newspaper in a recent interview.

Handok’s new campus located side by side with Genexine ProGen Bio Innovation Park is now home for its research institutes for product and pipeline development and startup accelerator INNOCUVE.

“The new location will help enhance our own R&D capabilities and pipelines for the entrance into the global pharmaceutical market and add momentum to our growth hormone product which are being co-developed with Genexine,” Kim said.

The new building, which occupies eight floors above the ground on a 21,800 square meter site, features green architecture designs and energy efficiency systems, reflecting Kim’s commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles.

Handok Chairman and CEO Kim Young-jin

Genexine ProGen Bio Innovation Park adjacent to Handok’s research complex is a new headquarters for Genexine and ProGen. Handok is the largest shareholder of Genexine and ProGen is an affiliated company to Genexine.

Since its acquisition of Genexine in 2012, Handok has invested in the development of a growth hormone codenamed HL2356, formerly known as GX-H9, which is on path to a Phase 3 clinical trial. Handok and Genexine jointly invested $25 million in Rezolute to become the largest shareholder of the U.S. biopharmaceutical firm dedicated to metabolic and orphan drugs.

Handok has continued robust growth despite business challenges from the pandemic, with sales exceeding $400 million for the first time last year.

Handok has developed 15 pipelines in total, including HL2356 for the treatment of hormone deficiency in children and adults, and drugs for the treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism and severe atopic dermatitis. It also holds marketing rights for bile duct cancer drug ABL001 jointly developed with ABL Bio in Korea.

Handok will also accelerate global clinical trials of the dual-targeting antibody against tumor cells in patients with bile duct cancer, Kim added.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]