Peptron, a Korean biotech company, said Thursday that it has secured a patent in Australia for a long-acting injectable formulation of semaglutide, designed to last over one month.

The patent covers PT403, the company’s diabetes and obesity treatment candidate, which is based on semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. 

The patent application has been filed in more than 20 countries, including Korea, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Australia is the first to complete the registration process.

The patent ensures Peptron’s exclusive rights to PT403 and similar formulations in Australia until June 22, 2042. The company said it plans to finalize the patent process in other countries sequentially.

“Developing a long-acting semaglutide-based injection to improve the convenience of weekly treatments has been challenging, especially in terms of reproducibility and aseptic manufacturing processes,” a Peptron official said. “However, our proprietary SmartDepot platform has resolved these challenges, which this patent confirms.”

The SmartDepot platform, a patented technology by Peptron, extends the dosing interval of peptide drugs with short half-lives, such as weekly injections, to longer durations. 

The technology uses an ultrasonic nozzle-based spray-drying process to ensure uniform particle size and homogeneity, enabling consistent drug release. “This allows for the development of sustained-release drugs with dosing intervals of one month, three months, or even six months, depending on the formulation,” the company official explained. 

Building on this capability, Peptron signed a platform technology evaluation agreement with Eli Lilly in October 2024. The partnership involves joint development studies on multiple compounds utilizing the SmartDepot platform.