Medical aesthetic corporations JETEMA said on the 21st that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Lifesciences to exclusively introduce and commercialize in Korea a generic of the obesity and diabetes treatment "semaglutide."
The agreement was reached during the business delegation schedule attended by President Lee Jae-myung. Zydus Lifesciences is a global pharmaceutical company with annual sales of about $2.93 billion (about 4.3 trillion won), has secured multiple U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generic approvals, and has cGMP-based quality control capabilities.
Under the agreement, JETEMA will exclusively introduce in Korea the semaglutide injectable generic developed by Zydus.
Semaglutide, an ingredient in obesity and diabetes treatments that mimics the glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 hormone to suppress appetite and lower blood sugar, is used in Danish pharmaceutical corporations Novo Nordisk's obesity treatment Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic.
Zydus will provide the common technical document (CTD) required for domestic approval, and JETEMA plans to use it to seek approval from the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety and build distribution networks.
The company is seeking differentiation with a cartridge-replacement "reusable pen" product, unlike the existing disposable pen format. The strategy is to speed up market entry by emphasizing ease of use and expense competitiveness. It also plans to lower the supply unit price to expand access to obesity treatment and quickly secure market share on that basis.
This agreement is the fruit of the global network of JETEMA CEO Nam Jeong-seon, who serves as vice chairman of the Korea Importers Association. With this collaboration, JETEMA plans to expand its existing aesthetics-centered business structure into the field of metabolic disease treatments and leap forward as a comprehensive bio corporations.
CEO Nam Jeong-seon said, "It is significant that we are collaborating with a global pharmaceutical company at a venue joined by President Lee Jae-myung and major corporations," and added, "We will prepare with the goal of launching at the end of 2028, when the original drug's patent expires."