Daewoong Pharmaceuticals will develop an obesity treatment that is administered once a month. Currently, all available obesity injection treatments are administered once a week, indicating a strategy to enhance convenience of administration and target the market.
Daewoong Pharmaceuticals announced on the 12th that it has signed a contract with Tion Labs Therapeutics, Daehan New Pharm, and Darim Biotech for the joint development of a four-week sustained-release injection for obesity treatment. These companies will form a consortium to collaborate on everything from preclinical trials to clinical trials, development, and approval, leveraging each company’s capabilities. They are currently conducting research to determine the drug dosage for toxicology tests and clinical trials. The company stated that it plans to apply for domestic phase 1 clinical trials next year.
According to the company, the new obesity treatment being developed is based on the ‘semaglutide’ component, similar to the obesity treatment Wegovy from Denmark’s Novo Nordisk. Although it uses the same ingredient as existing treatments, extending the administration interval can enhance patient convenience and reduce the burden of treatment. This will also decrease the chances of patients missing their treatment injections. Daewoong Pharmaceuticals plans to extend the administration interval of the obesity treatment to once a month by integrating Tion Labs Therapeutics’ technology.
A Daewoong Pharmaceuticals representative stated, “We can provide the same therapeutic effect with a lower quantity compared to competitive products by encapsulating semaglutide at a high density of 20% within drug delivery particles,” adding that “a minimum injection volume of 1 mL can be effective and reduce patient pain.” He also noted, “We plan to expand our pipeline to include endocrine therapies using Tion Labs Therapeutics’ drug delivery technology.”
Park Seong-soo, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceuticals, said, “The combination of the company’s know-how in developing metabolic disease treatments and Tion Labs’ proprietary drug delivery technology will create a strong synergy,” adding, “Our goal is to develop a more effective and safer obesity treatment and launch it in the domestic market as soon as possible.”