The obesity treatment market is rapidly evolving beyond simple weight loss, with competition now centered on innovations in dosage forms, administration schedules, and mechanisms of action. As the market shifts from injection-based treatments to oral medications, long-acting formulations, and multi-action drugs, the treatment paradigm is also changing. Global pharmaceutical companies and domestic biotech firms are accelerating the development of next-generation obesity drugs. Accordingly, Edaily is shining a spotlight on the changes in obesity and diabetes treatment in the “post-GLP-1” era and the response strategies of K-Bio. This report was produced with the support of the Korea Science Journalists Association. [Editor’s Note]

[Photo and Text by E-Daily Reporter KIM JI-WAN ] “We believed we shouldn’t just follow the glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 path. That market is already saturated with Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and even Chinese companies. We decided from the start to skip a step.”

Kim Ju-il (Ph.D. in Pharmacy), Vice President of R&D at DaewonPharmaceutical ( DaewonPharmaceutical(003220) ), made these remarks during a recent interview for “Pharm iDaily,” E-Daily’s premium pharmaceutical and biotech content series, held at the company’s headquarters on Cheonho-daero in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, when asked about the company’s strategy for developing next-generation obesity treatments.

The obesity treatment market, represented by drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro, is currently experiencing explosive growth. Some projections even suggest the global market size will expand to the hundreds of trillions of won. However, rather than entering this massive market late in the game, DaewonPharmaceutical has chosen a completely different path.

“It’s not about how much weight you lose, but how healthily you lose it.”

This involves the development of a quadruple agonist—a drug that targets GLP-1, GIP (gastric inhibitory polypeptide), glucagon (GCG), and gastrin simultaneously—rather than a GLP-1 monotherapy or a GLP-1/GIP dual agonist.

Vice President Kim explained, “We skipped the dual agonist and went straight for the triple agonist from the start,” adding, “However, even the triple agonist space was already seeing fierce competition between global Big Pharma and Chinese companies. So, we took another leap forward and chose the quadruple agonist.”

His decision on the direction of obesity treatment development was driven by concerns regarding the GLP-1 class of drugs that currently dominate the market.

“When you look at people who’ve taken Mounjaro or Wegovy, they lose weight very effectively. But they also lose muscle mass at the same time.”

Vice President Kim paused briefly before adding,

“The problem arises when the weight comes back. In many cases, the lost muscle doesn’t return, and only fat accumulates again. Ultimately, this leads to a decline in the body’s overall quality.”

He predicted that the benchmark for competition in the weight-loss drug market would change in the future.

“While the competition has been about how much weight can be lost, it will shift to how healthily that weight is lost.”

In fact, minimizing muscle loss has recently emerged as a key topic in the global obesity treatment industry. While weight loss efficacy has already been sufficiently proven, the phenomenon of losing not only fat but also muscle has emerged as the biggest challenge in developing next-generation treatments.

Vice President Kim explained, “When you lose 10 kg, it’s not just fat that’s lost—a significant proportion of muscle is lost as well,” adding, “If weight is regained, there’s a problem where fat increases more than muscle does.”

Ultimately, even if the total body weight remains the same, the change in body composition—with reduced muscle and increased fat—raises the risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease.

"Beyond Weight Loss: Protecting the Pancreas and Kidneys"

The quadruple-action agent currently under development by DaewonPharmaceutical targets precisely this issue. It aims to minimize muscle loss while maintaining fat reduction and simultaneously improve the metabolic abnormalities that accompany obesity.

“Obese patients aren’t just overweight,” said Vice President Kim. “They often suffer from various metabolic disorders such as diabetes, fatty liver disease, and inflammatory conditions.”

He went on to emphasize, “We are aiming not just for simple weight loss, but for fat reduction, minimization of muscle loss, and improvement of inflammation—all at the same time.”

DaewonPharmaceutical’s secret weapon is gastrin. He explained, “The quadruple-action agent currently under development adds the gastrin mechanism to the existing triple-action agent combining GLP-1, GIP, and GCG,” adding, “We are aiming not only for weight loss but also for protecting pancreatic function and improving kidney function.”

Gastrin is generally known as a hormone that regulates stomach acid secretion. However, recent studies have reported that gastrin contributes to the protection and regeneration of pancreatic beta cells and the improvement of metabolic function, drawing attention as a next-generation therapeutic target for metabolic diseases. Protecting the insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells helps maintain blood glucose control, which is expected to slow the progression of diabetes.

The process of identifying candidate compounds was not easy. DaewonPharmaceutical directly designed and synthesized more than 400 candidate compounds. More than 2 to 3 billion won in R&D costs were invested in this effort alone.

Vice President Kim explained, “We screened hundreds of compounds to determine the optimal ratio of GLP-1, GIP, GCG, and gastrin required to achieve the best results,” adding, “The optimization process is now nearing completion.”

50% Weight Loss in 22 Days… Preclinical Results Presented at ADA

Assessments suggest that the actual preclinical results have exceeded expectations. DaewonPharmaceutical presented the research findings on this candidate compound on the 5th at the American Diabetes Association (ADA 2026) conference in New Orleans, USA.

After administering the drug to a diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model, the company confirmed a weight loss of up to 50% or more compared to the control group within 22 days.

The improvement in blood glucose levels was also pronounced. While the control group recorded a fasting blood glucose level of 223 mg/dL, the group administered the candidate compound showed a significant therapeutic effect, with levels decreasing to as low as 70 mg/dL.

He stated, “We are confirming results that show not just weight loss, but an improvement in metabolic function itself.”

DaewonPharmaceutical presented data at the conference on weight changes, food intake, and blood glucose levels, as well as its proprietary receptor activity data.

"Healthy weight-loss drugs will become the mainstream... Commercialization in 2028"

Vice President Kim also expressed a cautious view regarding the trend toward long-acting obesity treatments. Recently, global companies have been competing to develop once-monthly obesity treatments.

However, he said, “We need to consider whether a drug that lasts longer is necessarily a better drug.”

“While long-acting formulations may be convenient for some patients, they could also lead to prolonged side effects for others. In fact, there are quite a few cases where patients suffer from vomiting or severe gastrointestinal side effects after receiving obesity medications.”

He emphasized, “Ultimately, what matters is providing the most appropriate treatment option for the patient,” adding, “Finding the right balance between efficacy and safety will be the key to future competitiveness.”

DaewonPharmaceutical has currently completed the optimization of its candidate compounds and is preparing to enter non-human primate trials. The target date for commercialization is expected to be 2028.

Vice President Kim stated, “As a latecomer, we did not choose a strategy of simply following the existing market,” adding, “We want to develop an obesity treatment that prepares for the post-GLP-1 era.”

The future of obesity treatments, as he describes it, is simple: “It’s not about how much weight you lose, but how healthily you lose it.”