On the 22nd, Hanmi Pharm announced that it has recently received approval to initiate a domestic Phase I trial for its next-generation immuno-oncology drug ‘‘BH3120(PD-L1/4-1BB BsAb)’ from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. In May, the company had previously received approval from the US FDA for the same drug candidate after submitting an Investigational New Drug Application.

BH3120, which is be codeveloped by Hanmi Pharm and Beijing Hanmi Pharm, is a new drug candidate that applies the company’s, bispecific antibody platform technology ‘Pentambody’ that allows for one antibody to bind to two targets at once. The drug offers the benefit of providing both immunotherapy (that activates im