Hanmi scraps development of lung cancer drug Olita in face of competition from AstraZeneca's Tagrisso

Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced Friday that it will end development of the lung cancer therapy Olita (olmutinib) due to difficulties recruiting patients for pivotal studies and the cancellation of licensing deals for the third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor. "We decided to end developing the drug since we are certain that R&D costs would eclipse its value," the drugmaker said.

Olita gained approval in South Korea in 2016 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR T790M mutation-positive non-small-cell lung cancer, on condition that data from confirmatory studies were submitted at a later date. However, following Boehringer Ingelheim's decision the same year to return rights to the therapy, along with the approval of AstraZeneca's Tagrisso (osimertinib), Hanmi has struggled to enrol patients in its clinical programme.

"Although Hanmi was a step ahead in developing Olita in the early stages, the company struggled in the face of a competition against a foreign pharmaceutical giant's R&D investment and speed in development," a Hanmi spokesperson said, adding that development "was also delayed after an exclusive sales licensing deal with Boehringer Ingelheim was cancelled." In addition, ZAI Lab recently returned rights to sell Olita in China, citing problems with clinical studies.

According to Hanmi, funds initially earmarked for the development of Olita will instead be used to develop its pipeline of more than 20 compounds.

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