[Market Focus] Daewoong Proves Microneedle Obesity Drug Technology... Up Over 9%

Daewoong saw a strong performance in early trading on August 13. This came after news broke that the company had achieved positive results in initial drug absorption tests for its independently developed microneedle patch.

As of 9:32 a.m. on this day, Daewoong was trading at 23,500 won, up 1,950 won (9.05%) from the previous trading day.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Daewoong Therapeutics announced that their self-developed microneedle patch, which contains semaglutide, achieved a bioavailability rate of over 80% compared to injectable formulations in a pilot pharmacokinetic (PK) study conducted on human subjects.

This marks the world's first human application results for a semaglutide microneedle patch formulation.

Daewoong explained that this result demonstrates the highest concentration level achieved so far, noting that existing microneedle patches containing the same ingredient have shown bioavailability rates of only about 30% compared to injections. The company also stated that, compared to oral semaglutide, the concentration is approximately 160 times higher.

While competing products on the global market require cold chain distribution and must be refrigerated, Daewoong Therapeutics' microneedle patch maintains its stability at room temperature, offering the advantage of reducing distribution costs.