Competition in the obesity drug market is shifting from efficacy to dosing convenience. Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk are expanding the market for oral therapies that emphasize ease of use, while in injectables they are focusing on developing long-acting formulations to extend dosing from the current "once weekly" to "once monthly." Ultimately, how long and how stably the same drug can be delivered in the body has emerged as next-generation competitiveness.
According to the industry on the 18th, Lilly's ultimate goal in the obesity injection market is also to advance glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class therapies, currently dosed once weekly, into once-monthly formulations. To that end, Lilly is collaborating separately with Korea's Peptron and Sweden's Camurus, both of which have long-acting drug delivery technologies.
The market is watching which technology Lilly will ultimately choose. While it is conducting technology evaluation and joint research with Peptron, it has already signed a technology license-in deal with Camurus. The industry says the two companies' development results and commercialization capabilities will be key variables in Lilly's long-acting obesity drug strategy.
◇ "Technology validation" Peptron vs. "broader applicability" Camurus
Lilly's first chosen partner is Peptron, which has the domestic long-acting drug delivery platform SmartDepot. The two companies signed a technology evaluation agreement in Oct. 2024 and are conducting joint research.
SmartDepot is a technology that increases the uniformity of drug-containing microparticles to precisely control the release rate. Whereas conventional approaches secured durability by extending the half-life—the time it takes for the drug to decrease by half in the body—SmartDepot uses a carrier technology to release the drug steadily over a long period.
The joint research period was initially expected to end late last year, but a correction filing later extended it through Oct. 7, 2026, at the latest.
Lilly is testing the feasibility of commercializing a once-monthly formulation by applying SmartDepot to its peptide-based assets. With the extension of the joint research period, the companies are said to be conducting joint research not only on GLP-1 class therapies but also on GLP-1/gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) dual agonists and Peptron's obesity drug candidate PT404.
In the industry, the focus is on the possibility of signing a definitive license-in agreement within the year, given the expanded scope of technology validation at Lilly.
Camurus, by contrast, signed a license-in agreement with Lilly in June last year, earlier than Peptron. Camurus' FluidCrystal is a lipid-based drug delivery platform that slowly releases a drug in the body, enabling once-monthly dosing.
Lilly had initially been studying this technology for GLP-1 class therapies and recently secured additional rights to expand its use to amylin receptor agonists. As a result, Camurus' technology is increasingly likely to extend across Lilly's next-generation metabolic disease therapies under development, including GLP-1/GIP dual agonists, GLP-1/GIP/glucagon (GCG) triple agonists, and amylin receptor agonists.
However, the market sees the impact of this option exercise on Peptron's licensing prospects as limited. Um Min-yong, a research fellow at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "Lilly has not yet begun clinical trials applying Camurus' technology," and analyzed, "It is likely an option exercise aimed at maintaining exclusivity under the contract."
◇ "Extensive commercialization experience" Camurus vs. "growth potential" Peptron
One reason cited for Lilly, which is conducting technology validation with Peptron, to move straight to a license-in agreement with Camurus is its commercialization experience. Camurus' long-acting drug delivery platform is regarded as already validated in the global market.
In fact, Camurus' addiction treatment Buvidal, which uses FluidCrystal, is approved and sold in Europe and the United States. In the obesity drug field, a once-monthly semaglutide (Wegovy ingredient) formulation candidate (CAM2056) is slated to enter phase 2b in the second half of this year.
However, the acromegaly treatment Oclaiz recently failed again to win FDA approval, delaying its U.S. launch. This comes after inspectors again found issues during current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) inspections of a contract manufacturing facility.
Peptron, meanwhile, is drawing attention for its growth potential. Following domestic approval of Luphere, a prostate cancer and precocious puberty therapy using SmartDepot, the company is pushing into overseas markets and preparing global trials for PT403, a once-monthly long-acting obesity drug candidate.
According to preclinical results unveiled at the American Diabetes Association (ADA), PT403 showed superior weight-loss effects in an obese mouse model compared with existing once-weekly semaglutide formulations. The company said that in particular, in safety evaluations in adults, it significantly reduced gastrointestinal side effects typical of GLP-1 class therapies, such as vomiting and nausea. PT403 has filed patents in some 20 countries and is targeting product approval in 2030.
Beyond obesity drugs, Peptron is applying SmartDepot to therapies for rare diseases such as acromegaly and achondroplasia, while also pursuing projects to convert existing therapies from global pharmaceutical companies into once-monthly formulations. The company is also working to secure large-scale manufacturing capacity by building a second plant in Osong, North Chungcheong.
A securities firm official said, "The core of Lilly's once-monthly obesity drug strategy is not to find a new drug, but to secure a technology that can deliver existing drugs as long and as stably as possible," adding, "Given that joint research with Peptron has progressed considerably and the scope with Camurus is being expanded, Lilly may strategically use both platforms in parallel rather than choosing just one."