Will the Yangtze River be broken by Wigobi and Maunja? Domestic obesity medicine ‘Epee’ launched

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Sang-hyun = Hanmi Pharmaceutical's domestically produced new drug 'Ephe' (ingredient name: efpeglenatide) is challenging the domestic glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) type obesity treatment market, which has been virtually divided between 'Wegobi' and 'Maunjaro'.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical [128940] plans to launch Epee as early as this month and begin targeting the obesity market, which is expected to grow to 2 trillion won this year.

With the addition of Epee, the domestic competition for obesity has become even more heated.

◇ Epee, weight loss effect in Korean clinical trials… Produced domestically

According to the pharmaceutical industry on the 11th, GLP-1 type obesity pills, which suppress appetite and maintain a feeling of fullness, are so effective in weight loss that they are called 'miracle diet pills' and demand is rapidly increasing.

In Korea, Novo Nordisk's WeGobi was released first in October 2024, followed by Eli Lilly's Maunjaro in August of last year.

Maunjaro has rapidly increased its market share in the domestic obesity treatment market, which was dominated by Wigobi, and has recently maintained its first place, widening the gap with Wigobi.

According to pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA, distribution performance in the first half of this year was 744.4 billion won for Maunjaro and 217 billion won for Wigobi.

While the obesity market is dominated by foreign companies, Epee, developed by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, recently received approval as Korea's 45th new drug from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Epee is the representative pipeline of Hanmi Pharmaceutical's obesity new drug project 'H.O.P', and is characterized by clinical evidence conducted only on Koreans.

In a clinical trial conducted on 448 obese Korean patients, the average weight loss rate among participants who took Epee for 40 weeks was 9.75%, and some patients lost up to 30% of their body weight.

In addition, it is known that Epee can reduce the risk of gastrointestinal abnormalities such as vomiting and diarrhea by gradually increasing the dose. The dose of Epee approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is 2 to 10 mg.

Compared to Wigobi and Maunjaro, Epee has a slightly lower weight loss rate, but the general opinion is that side effects may be similar or less severe.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical plans to target the market by claiming that Epee is the first domestically produced GLP-1 obesity medication. Epee's entire process from manufacturing raw materials to producing finished products is carried out domestically.

An official from Hanmi Pharmaceutical emphasized, “The GLP-1 treatment market is led by imported drugs from global pharmaceutical companies, so a significant amount of spending is heading overseas,” and added, “Through the domestic commercialization of Epee, we will establish sovereignty in the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry.”

Regarding the release date of Epee, he said, "We are making efforts to supply it as early as the end of this month."

◇ Epee, likely to be launched in the 100,000 won range... Other domestic companies also develop obesity treatments

As the launch of Epee begins to count down, the market is paying attention to the price.

In Korea, the cost of 4 weeks of treatment with Wigobi and Maunjaro is known to be around 300,000 won based on the lowest dose.

In a situation where there are quite a few people who go to Japan or visit so-called 'holy land' hospitals and pharmacies to get a prescription for Maunjaro at a lower price, if Hanmi Pharmaceutical sets the price of Epee low, there is a high possibility that it will settle in the obesity treatment market.

Some in the industry predict that the price of Epee for 4 weeks will be around 100,000 won.

In relation to this, a Hanmi Pharmaceutical official said, "We will lower the entry barrier to obesity treatment with economical drug prices so that we can lower the cost burden on patients who need long-term treatment."

He added, “We plan to determine the price by comprehensively reflecting the market environment, distribution structure, clinical value, and sustainable supply conditions,” adding, “We will clearly adhere to the principle of increasing patient access to treatment.”

Hanmi Pharmaceutical is conducting a phase 3 clinical trial to expand the indications for Epee to include diabetes in addition to obesity and overweight adults without diabetes.

If Epee produces results, the pace of development of obesity drugs by domestic pharmaceutical companies is expected to accelerate even further.

HK Innoen [195940] and JW Pharmaceutical [001060] are each pursuing phase 3 clinical trials for obesity treatment candidates introduced by Chinese companies, and Celltrion [068270] is reviewing global clinical trials for a quadruple action obesity treatment.