European Association for the Study of Diabetes Opens on September 15

Simpler and More Potent... The Race to Develop Obesity Treatments Intensifies

The competition to develop obesity treatments that are simpler and more powerful than Wegovy and Mounjaro is heating up. Since GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) class treatments became mainstream, pharmaceutical companies have been expanding their focus to achieve stronger weight loss, reduce dosing burden, and broaden indications to include cardiovascular diseases.

The most notable trend at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD 2025), which opened on September 15 (local time) in Vienna, Austria, is the competition to reduce injection intervals. A prime example is Amgen's once-monthly formulation, Maritide. This new drug combines GLP-1 activity with GIP (gastric inhibitory polypeptide) receptor antagonism. GIP is secreted from the intestine after food intake and stimulates insulin secretion. Excessive GIP secretion leads to fat accumulation, so blocking GIP has been applied to obesity treatments. This is the same mechanism as Mounjaro. In a phase 2 study over 52 weeks, it showed up to approximately 20% average weight loss in non-diabetic patients and up to approximately 17% in patients with type 2 diabetes. By suggesting the possibility of once-monthly or even less frequent dosing, it is challenging the "once-weekly" standard.

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U.S. biotech company Metsera introduced its ultra-long-acting amylin analogue, MET-233i, at this conference. Amylin is a hormone secreted from the pancreas along with insulin after meals, helping to prevent rapid blood sugar spikes and maintain satiety for longer periods. This candidate is administered once a month and, in early clinical trials, showed up to 8.4% average weight loss compared to placebo at day 36 after administration. This result increases the potential for commercializing a once-monthly combination therapy of amylin analogues and GLP-1. Early safety signals were also favorable.

Efforts to push the limits of efficacy are also active. Novo Nordisk is developing Cagrilixima, a new treatment that combines semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy) and the amylin analogue cagrilintide, as a successor to Wegovy. In a 68-week phase 3 trial, this new drug achieved an average weight loss of -13.7% and a 73.5% achievement rate for HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) below 6.5%. Eli Lilly also unveiled retatrutide, a triple-action drug targeting GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon, showing the trend toward developing multi-target diabetes and obesity treatments.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical will also present preclinical research results on the novel obesity treatment 'HM17321' at this conference.

HM17321 is a substance under development as an obesity treatment that simultaneously achieves weight loss and muscle gain.

At this conference, the molecular biological mechanism of muscle growth induced by HM17321 will be elucidated for the first time in the world through proteomic research on experimental mouse muscles.

The treatment goal goes beyond simple weight loss.

Semaglutide has expanded its market with data showing reduced risk of cardiovascular death and myocardial infarction, and multi-action agents like Cagrismia are evolving by demonstrating improvements in cardiovascular metabolic markers such as HbA1c, blood lipids, and blood pressure.

The industry expects diabetes and obesity treatments to actively expand indications to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, heart failure, and other conditions in the future.

The industry expects that as the era of high-dose, multi-action drugs unfolds, competition will intensify around "hard outcomes"-actual clinical results that go beyond simple weight loss to encompass cardiovascular and hepatic metabolic comorbidities. Companies that can prove both treatment convenience and systemic benefits are likely to emerge as next-generation leaders. Kim Seona, a researcher at Hana Securities, stated, "In the future, obesity treatments will focus on long-acting formulations for convenience and combination therapies for greater weight loss. This approach can address the issue of dose escalation limits caused by side effects."