Eli Lilly (LLY) is making moves to keep its pipeline stocked. The company announced two separate licensing and research deals on Monday — one with South Korea's Hanmi Pharm and another with China's Haisco Pharmaceutical Group. The agreements give Lilly access to new drug candidates and early-stage discovery programs, just as investors digest promising Phase 3 data for its cancer drug Retevmo.

Shares were down about 2.7% in premarket trading, but the news flow was anything but negative.

Lilly Snaps Up Global Rights to Hanmi's Sonefpeglutide

Hanmi said it signed a licensing deal with Lilly for sonefpeglutide, a biologic drug candidate built on Hanmi's LAPSCOVERY long-acting technology platform. The drug is a GLP-2 analog designed to promote intestinal growth, reduce inflammation, and support regeneration of the intestinal mucosa. It's currently being tested in a global Phase 2 trial for short bowel syndrome.

Under the terms, Hanmi will finish the ongoing Phase 2 study, while Lilly will explore additional clinical development opportunities. Lilly gets exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize sonefpeglutide outside of Korea.

Hanmi will receive a $75 million upfront payment and could earn up to $1.185 billion in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus royalties if the drug makes it to market.

Haisco and Lilly Launch a Multi-Program Research Alliance

Separately, Haisco Pharmaceutical announced a licensing and research collaboration with Lilly aimed at developing medicines across multiple therapeutic areas. This is the first partnership between the two companies.

Haisco will identify and advance up to five innovative target programs. Lilly will handle IND-enabling studies, clinical development, and commercialization. The agreement gives Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to certain programs, while Haisco retains rights in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan for others.

Haisco could receive up to $87 million in upfront and near-term payments, plus up to $2.967 billion in downstream milestone payments and tiered single-digit royalties on future sales.

Retevmo Cuts Recurrence Risk by 83% in Early-Stage Lung Cancer

Lilly also shared results from the Phase 3 LIBRETTO-432 trial. The study showed that Retevmo (selpercatinib) reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by 83% in patients with early-stage RET fusion-positive lung cancer. The trial enrolled 151 patients and demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in event-free survival compared with placebo.

It's a strong data readout for a drug that's already approved in advanced settings, and it could open the door to earlier use.

LLY Price Action: Eli Lilly shares were down 2.73% at $1074.85 at the time of publication on Monday.