Olita withdrawn due to fatal side effects as well as stiff competition in non-small cell lung cancer market.- Hanmi Pharma.

Olita (olmutinib), a drug for non-small cell lung cancer, from Hanmi Pharmaceutical, has been withdrawn after the company abandoned the research program. Hanmi Pharmaceutical made this decision after it had struggled to recruit for its clinical trials and decided that the third-generation EGFR inhibitor was lagging too far behind its biggest rival, Tagrisso (osimertinib), from AstraZeneca, to be competitive.

This follows the Korean authorities investigating the company for not acting fast enough to disclose a fatality in a patient after treatment with Olita. There have also been issues with partners, as Boehringer backed out of a deal in 2016, and Chinese licensee Zai Lab returned its rights to the drug.