[Yonhap Photo]
Prosecutors raided the head office of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Monday over allegations that the drug maker leaked information on its broken licensing deal with German partner Boehringer Ingelheim, triggering massive short-selling.
The investigation was launched at the request of financial regulators who have accused Hanmi of delaying an announcement on its broken deal with Boehringer Ingelheim before making an official disclosure.
Hanmi's new cancer therapy called "Olmutinib" was once touted as a "breakthrough therapy" for patients who have developed a tolerance to existing lung cancer treatments.
The drug was conditionally approved for sale in South Korea, and Hanmi had tried to commercialize it under a partnership agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim. However, the German partner canceled its deal with Hanmi on September 30, citing cases of life-threatening side effects during clinical trials.
There have been suspicions that some select individuals exchanged news of the broken deal via mobile messenger KakaoTalk before Hanmi made an official announcement on the broken deal.
The announcement came after the firm's stock price rose on a separate disclosure that Hanmi secured a new licensing deal with Roche-owned Genentech.
Hanmi has denied that the first announcement was deliberately delayed to help some key shareholders sell shares in advance. Financial regulators have admitted short-selling could hurt the interests of individual investors.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
