LG Chem and Samsung Bioepis show Korea's new deal playbook: take the cash earlier

On the same day, LG Chem sold down its future royalty on Rhythm's MC4R franchise for $350 million in fixed payments, and Samsung Bioepis signed up Teva to sell two US biosimilars for up to $420 million. Both deals swap long-dated upside for near-term certainty.

2026-11-04

On November 3, two Korean drugmakers changed how they get paid by US partners. LG Chem moved its Rhythm Pharmaceuticals royalty onto a fixed payment schedule, and Samsung Bioepis signed Teva to sell two of its biosimilars in the US. The headline totals are $855 million and $420 million, but the guaranteed cash is much smaller. That gap is the main thing to understand about both deals, and it points to a more cash-focused deal playbook in Korea.

LG Chem: trading a royalty stream for scheduled payments

In January 2024, LG Chem (KRX: 051910) licensed worldwide rights to bivamelagon (formerly LB54640) to Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RYTM). Bivamelagon is an oral small-molecule MC4R agonist. Rhythm paid $80 million in cash plus $20 million in stock upfront, with up to $205 million more in milestones and a low-to-mid single-digit royalty. That made the deal worth about $305 million in total.

The amendment took effect on November 2. Its main terms:

Rhythm pays LG Chem $350 million in fixed installments: $70 million within 15 business days, $100 million in September 2027, $100 million in September 2028 and $80 million in September 2029.
The royalty drops to a flat 1%, but it now covers net sales of Rhythm's whole MC4R portfolio, including the marketed drug setmelanotide (Imcivree), bivamelagon and RM-718. It starts on January 1, 2029, or earlier if bivamelagon launches before then.
LG Chem can earn a new $200 million milestone if the MC4R portfolio reaches $3 billion in annual global sales.

To fund this, Rhythm took a five-year term loan facility of up to $750 million ($500 million committed), led by KKR's HealthCare Royalty with Blackstone Life Sciences.

Our read: The $855 million figure overstates what LG Chem has locked in. Firm money is the original $100 million plus the new $350 million schedule, or $450 million in total. The other $405 million depends on clinical milestones and a $3 billion sales threshold. For context, Imcivree sold $92.1 million in the third quarter of 2026.

Even so, LG Chem made a sensible trade. It gave up most of the upside on bivamelagon in exchange for guaranteed cash, before a global phase 3 program that Rhythm will now pay for and carry the risk on. The 1% portfolio-wide royalty also lets LG Chem share in Imcivree, a drug it never owned.

Rhythm, in turn, now controls nearly all the economics of its pipeline. It pays for that with borrowed capital, which only works if bivamelagon succeeds in acquired hypothalamic obesity and Prader-Willi syndrome.

Samsung Bioepis: a new US seller for two biosimilars

The same day, Samsung Bioepis signed a deal with Teva (NYSE: TEVA) worth up to $420 million covering two FDA-approved biosimilars: SB2 (infliximab, referencing Remicade) and SB4 (etanercept, referencing Enbrel). Samsung Bioepis will handle development, manufacturing and supply. Teva will sell both products in the US, and the two companies will share profits.

The payments break down as follows:

Up to $75 million upfront. Of this, $50 million is due within 30 days and $25 million depends on contract conditions.
Up to $75 million in launch milestones.
Up to $270 million in sales milestones.

Our read: Only $50 million of the $420 million is unconditional. The launch milestones are the interesting part. SB4 has had US approval for years but has not launched, because Amgen's US patents on Enbrel have kept etanercept biosimilars off the market. Teva is paying now to hold the US rights for when that market opens. For Samsung Bioepis, Teva's US generics and biosimilars sales force is a natural channel for mature anti-TNF products, where price competition with other biosimilar makers decides the winners.

What the two deals have in common

Korean companies are becoming more confident in how they structure deals. A few years ago, a Korean out-licensing deal usually meant a small upfront payment, a large headline total and a long wait. This week's deals were different. In both cases the Korean company negotiated for cash it can count on, and left the long-tail risk with a US partner that is better placed to carry it.

Investors comparing Korean and Chinese deal flow should note this. Chinese out-licensing still leads in total value. Korean companies are increasingly going back to existing partners to collect on deals they have already signed.

For more context, see our GLP-1, obesity and metabolism track, rare disease track and biosimilars and CDMO track.

What to watch

Bivamelagon pivotal trial starts in acquired hypothalamic obesity and Prader-Willi syndrome. These will decide whether Rhythm's borrowing pays off.
Whether LG Chem uses the $70 million first installment to fund its own pipeline in metabolic disease and oncology.
When SB4 can launch in the US, and whether Teva discloses a launch timeline.
Whether other Korean licensors, such as ABL Bio, Alteogen and LigaChem, renegotiate existing deals in the same way.

Sources

This article is industry and company analysis, not investment or medical advice.