Hanmi Pharmaceutical said on the 27th that it will participate in the American Diabetes Association (ADA 2026) in New Orleans, the United States, from June 5 to 8 and release eight research results on two next-generation anti-obesity drug candidates.
The anti-obesity drug candidate that the company will unveil for the first time at this meeting is LA-MSTN (HM500197).
It is the world's first peptide-based muscle growth therapy using a myostatin inhibition mechanism, characterized by targeting both increased muscle mass and improved muscle function. Myostatin is a protein in the body that suppresses muscle growth, and the approach is to regulate it to induce muscle gain.
The company is also developing "LA-UCN2 (HM17321)" as a "muscle-increasing anti-obesity drug," adding a muscle-strengthening-based obesity treatment pipeline.
There is an assessment that Hanmi Pharmaceutical is strengthening a differentiated strategy that targets not only weight loss in people with obesity but also "muscle preservation and strengthening."
Anti-obesity drugs in the glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 class that lead the global market, such as Wegovy by Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro by Eli Lilly, show strong weight-loss effects, but have been criticized for the limits of causing decreases in muscle mass and rapid weight regain when discontinued.
Several companies are pursuing new drug development to overcome this. However, there is also an assessment that many candidates targeting muscle increase are developed on large protein platforms such as antibodies and Fc-fusion proteins, which are structurally large in molecular size, posing technical constraints in combination dosing or developing fixed-dose combinations.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical designed HM500197 as a peptide-based agent to overcome these limits. Peptides are much smaller protein fragments than antibodies and are structurally more advantageous for drug design and combination. The company said it identified the candidate by using its own artificial intelligence (AI) and structure-modeling platform "HARP (Hanmi AI-driven Research Platform)."
The company is building an obesity treatment pipeline through the "H.O.P (Hanmi Obesity Pipeline)" project.
Efpeglenatide, the most advanced in development, is aiming for commercialization within the year. The company plans to produce it domestically and sell it directly based on its existing sales network.
HM15275, a triple agonist that simultaneously activates GLP-1 involved in appetite suppression, GIP that promotes insulin secretion, and the glucagon receptor involved in increasing energy expenditure, is in a phase 2 clinical trial in the United States. LA-UCN2 (HM17321) is in a phase 1 trial in the United States.
Choi In-young, head of future growth at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, said, "We are focusing on developing innovative drugs that achieve 'healthy weight loss' by effectively reducing body fat while strengthening muscle," and added, "We will lead the change in the global anti-obesity treatment paradigm."