Hanmi Pharmaceutical Senior Vice President and R&D Center head Choi In-young talks with reporters on the sidelines of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Wednesday. (Kim Hae-yeon/The Korea Herald)
Hanmi Pharmaceutical Senior Vice President and R&D Center head Choi In-young talks with reporters on the sidelines of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Wednesday. (Kim Hae-yeon/The Korea Herald)

SAN FRANCISCO ― Hanmi Pharmaceutical is poised to bring a new chapter to obesity treatment, a topic that has garnered significant attention at this year’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. Despite the spotlight on obesity drugs, industry concerns remain about potential side effects such as nausea, vomiting and overall muscle loss, which could lead to further complications for patients.

Choi In-young, senior vice president and head of Hanmi Pharmaceutical's R&D Center, expressed confidence in the success of Hanmi's next-generation obesity treatment to take on Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro (tirzepatide), the top two players.

"Patients often stop taking obesity medications for two reasons: side effects and high cost," Choi said during a press briefing in San Francisco on the sidelines of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, on Wednesday.

"To be specific, appetite suppression, the primary mechanism of action for these drugs, is frequently accompanied by gastrointestinal issues and muscle loss, which pose significant challenges, particularly for older adults and women."

Although GLP-1 obesity treatments have achieved groundbreaking weight-loss results and blockbuster status, Choi highlighted the "unmet medical needs" arising from the increasing prevalence of severe obesity. He also stressed that the future of obesity treatment lies not only in minimizing muscle loss, but also in increasing muscle mass, requiring novel mechanisms of action.

In response, Hanmi is focusing on CRF2 receptors, rather than incretin receptors like GLP-1, to develop HM17321. This novel drug targets selective fat reduction while simultaneously increasing muscle mass.

HM17321 gained significant attention at the American Obesity Society meeting in San Antonio last November, where Hanmi presented two preclinical studies demonstrating its efficacy in weight loss and muscle gain, along with its unique development strategy.

HM17321 leverages Hanmi’s in-house advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and structural modeling, to deliver a paradigm shift in obesity treatment. It has shown superior weight-loss results both as a standalone therapy and in combination with existing treatments, with the added benefit of anticipated cost competitiveness.

Although global pharmaceutical giants are adopting similar strategies, Choi emphasized that Hanmi holds a stronger competitive edge in obesity drug innovation.

He noted that during the JPM conference there was consistent interest from companies looking to partner with Hanmi on its diverse portfolio of obesity treatments tailored to individual patient needs. "While there were some productive discussions regarding Hanmi's oncology and rare disease drug portfolios, obesity treatments clearly took center stage this year."

By Kim Hae-yeon (hykim@heraldcorp.com)