Yuhan Corp. said that Boehringer Ingelheim has decided to discontinue the development of BI 3006337, a GLP-1/FGF21 dual agonist (YH25724), and return all rights to the company.

BI 3006337 was being developed as a treatment for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and related liver diseases. Yuhan and Boehringer Ingelheim entered into a joint research and technology transfer agreement in 2019, with a total deal value of $870 million (1.2 trillion won). However, Yuhan has only received $50 million so far in upfront and milestone payments, leaving nearly $820 million unrealized.

Despite Boehringer Ingelheim’s decision to return the rights, Yuhan remains committed to the continued development of BI 3006337, the company said. Yuhan cited "promising" safety results from clinical trials and the potential to address significant unmet medical needs as key factors in its decision to proceed independently.

A Yuhan official emphasized that there would be no financial losses from the deal termination.

"The upfront payment of $40 million and milestone payment of $10 million that we received from Boehringer Ingelheim are non-refundable,” a company spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the deal is expected to impact Genexine as well.

YH25724 was developed using Genexine’s proprietary long-acting platform technology, “hyFc.”

In 2013, Genexine granted Yuhan a license to develop and commercialize fusion protein products using hyFc. This was followed by an additional agreement in 2015, allowing Yuhan to apply the technology to four target proteins.

As part of the agreement, Genexine was entitled to receive 5 percent of the total licensing revenue Yuhan secured from Boehringer Ingelheim, amounting to approximately $2.5 million.

With the deal terminated, Genexine will no longer be able to receive additional payments until the drug development restarts.