April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical said March 7 that its autoimmune disease candidate has been designated a generic name by the World Health Organization.

HM71224, a small-molecule inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase that is being developed by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, was assigned unique International Non-proprietary Names, the official generic name given to a drug’s active ingredient, as Poseltinib. 

An INN identifies a pharmaceutical substance or active pharmaceutical ingredient by a unique name that is globally recognized and easy to remember.

Poseltinib is currently undergoing global phase 2 clinical trials on patients with rheumatoid arthritis initiated by Eli Lilly which entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Hanmi for the drug candidate in 2015.

“We will put utmost efforts with our partner Eli Lilly for successful commercialization of Poseltinib,” an official at Hanmi said.

According to the firm, Poseltinib is being developed to treat various diseases such as lupus, nephritis and Sjogren’s syndrome.

After settling the generic name, a pharmaceutical company needs to proposes a brand name to health authorities like the US Food and Drug Administration, in order to mark the product as its own.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)