Hanmi to unveil new obesity drug candidate at US ObesityWeek 2024

Hanmi Pharm will reveal the targets and nonclinical results of its “new concept obesity treatment” candidate developed as the Hanmi Obesity Pipeline (HOP) project’s undisclosed pipeline at The Obesity Society (TOS) of the United States in November (ObesityWeek).

The HOP project, which Hanmi started in September last year, sequentially introduces various “personalized therapies " that can help throughout the lifecycle of obesity treatment.

The new candidate overcomes the limitations of existing treatments, which are accompanied by muscle loss (up to 40 percent of the weight lost) during weight loss. It is a “new concept obesity treatment” that increases muscle during weight loss through a different mechanism of action than incretins.

Hanmi Pharm expects the undisclosed pipeline to dramatically improve the quality of weight loss when combined with incretin or as a monotherapy.

Besides, efpeglenatide, which initially emerged as the leader of the HOP project, is undergoing a phase 3 clinical trial in Korea. Efpeglenatide is a “Korean-customized obesity drug” that reflects the body shape and weight of Koreans. It is the first long-acting GLP-1 obesity drug to be developed using Hanmi Pharm's proprietary platform technology LABSCOVERY.

The clinical trial is expected to end in the second half of 2026, and the drug will likely be launched as early as 2027.

HM15275 unveiled at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in June, is being developed as the next generation of innovative obesity treatments beyond efpeglenatide. Follow-up nonclinical study results are also expected at ObesityWeek.

HM15275, which is expected to deliver weight loss of 25 percent or more with minimal muscle loss, is designed to optimize the action of each of three receptors -- glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1), gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), and glucagon (GCG) -- to treat obesity, with the potential to treat various other metabolic diseases. Phase 1 clinical trials are underway in the U.S. to enter phase 2 in 2025.

Through the HOP project, Hanmi is also working to develop products that can modify the lifestyle and medication compliance of obese patients, including oral obesity drugs and digital therapies for obesity prevention and management.

The “digital medical device” convergence medicine was the first case developed in Korea. The company said it would likely have synergistic effects by maximizing efficacy and improving safety by converging a digital medical device with efpeglenatide, a “Korean customized GLP-1 obesity drug” being developed by Hanmi Pharm.

“We will do our best to create the first obesity drug developed by a Korean pharmaceutical company with its technology from start to finish quickly and successfully,” a Hanmi Pharm official said.

In addition to the obesity and metabolism pipeline, Hanmi Pharm will present its innovations in major disease areas, including rare diseases and cancer, at many global conferences later this year. Currently, 13 research projects are scheduled for presentation, and the company said it plans to continue to showcase new pipelines under investigation based on Hanmi's novel modalities.

“The second half of this year is an important time to showcase our research achievements on the global stage,” said Executive Director Choi In-young, head of Hanmi Pharm’s R&D Center. “In particular, our new obesity drug candidate, which will be unveiled for the first time during ObesityWeek in the U.S., will present a new paradigm for treating obesity as a monotherapy and become a game changer that can be combined with existing therapies to prove the HOP project’s global competitiveness.”