Hanmi Science announced on Monday that its key subsidiary, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, will present a record-breaking nine preclinical research findings at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR 2026) conference in San Diego from April 17-22. This marks the highest number of studies presented by any South Korean pharmaceutical or biotech company at the event.
Hanmi will unveil research demonstrating the synergistic effects of their dual EZH1/2 inhibitor (HM97662) combined with DNA damage inducers in SMARCA4-deficient malignant lung cancer models.
HM97662 is being developed as a next-generation targeted cancer therapy. Its dual inhibition mechanism, which simultaneously suppresses EZH1 and EZH2 proteins, shows promise in overcoming resistance and delivering superior anti-cancer efficacy compared to existing selective EZH2 inhibitors.
The company will also present findings on HM100714, an oral selective HER2 inhibitor targeting HER2-mutant cancers. This research utilized cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) based analytics to identify optimal indications for the drug.
Another highlight will be Hanmi’s SOS1-KRAS interaction inhibitor (HM101207), which has shown the ability to overcome resistance in KRAS-dependent cancers by regulating gene expression involved in hypoxic survival mechanisms.
Hanmi is set to showcase its progress in mRNA-based immunotherapy, an emerging field in cancer treatment.
The company will present data on its STING mRNA cancer drug, demonstrating both immune response activation and direct tumor cell death, underlining its potent anti-cancer effects.
Research on another mRNA-based drug, a p53 mRNA cancer therapy, will also be presented. This novel analog has shown enhanced cancer cell death mechanisms compared to wild-type p53, exhibiting superior anti-cancer efficacy and the potential to overcome chemotherapy resistance.
Using transcriptomic analysis, Hanmi has developed a method to predict responsiveness to p53 restoration therapy and systematically identify cancer types most likely to benefit from this treatment. These findings will also be presented at the conference.
Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical, the group’s Chinese subsidiary, will unveil new data on BH3120, an immunotherapy utilizing their proprietary Pentabody dual antibody platform. The Research and Development (R&D) center in Beijing is also generating buzz with plans to reveal the mechanism of action and pharmacological activity of BH4601, a new cancer project, for the first time.
Dr. Choi In-young, head of Hanmi’s R&D center, stated that its cancer pipeline is expanding into innovative areas across various modalities. Leveraging the world-class technological capabilities and cutting-edge R&D infrastructure, it’s integrating AI, bioinformatics, and omics into the research to spearhead the next generation of drug development.