[Edaily KIM SAE-MI Minji Son Reporter] “In our joint research with Company L, we are developing an entirely different peptide formulation together, and Tuzepatide is not included. That agreement was likely made with Kamurus.”

The market was thrown into turmoil by remarks made by Choi Ho-il, CEO of Peptron, Inc.(087010), at the “Shinhan Bio Forum in Daejeon 2026” held on the 9th at the Intercity Hotel in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon. This was because his remarks were interpreted to mean that the subject of the joint research between Peptron, Inc. and Eli Lilly was not Tuzepatide, which the market had been anticipating. Tuzepatide is the active ingredient in Lilly’s diabetes and obesity treatments “Mounjaro” and “Zepbound.”

As news of the remarks spread through the market after the regular trading session closed, Peptron, Inc.’s stock price immediately plummeted to the daily lower limit in after-hours trading. According to KG Zeroin MP Doctor, Peptron, Inc. was trading at 112,300 won that day, down 48,100 won (29.99%) from the previous day.

The market’s shock was not merely due to a change in a single joint research compound. Peptron, Inc.’s enterprise value had been significantly driven by expectations that the company could convert Mounjaro and Zepbound—which are administered once weekly by applying Peptron’s long-acting drug delivery platform “SmartDepo” to Lilly’s blockbuster drug Turzepatide—into once-monthly formulations.

CEO Choi’s remarks effectively negated the core premise of these expectations. Even within a joint research project with Lilly, the likelihood of a technology transfer and the economic value can vary significantly depending on whether the Daesang is a commercialized product that has already grown to generate tens of trillions of won in annual sales or an undisclosed candidate compound still in the early stages of development.

Previously, Peptron, Inc. announced on October 7, 2024, that it had signed a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) with Lilly. The agreement involves applying Peptron’s SmartDepo technology to Lilly’s peptide drugs to verify technical feasibility and evaluate the potential for a subsequent licensing agreement. However, the specific target compounds were not disclosed in the announcement.

The contract term was initially announced as approximately 14 months, lasting until the completion of the evaluation, but was amended to a maximum of 24 months via a corrective disclosure last December. Since an MTA serves as an evaluation phase to test the platform’s applicability prior to a formal agreement, the market has viewed the identity of the target substance and the likelihood of a subsequent technology transfer as key variables in determining the value of Peptron, Inc.

The issue lies in the market expectations that have built up over time and the company’s response. When Lilly signed a contract with Sweden’s Kamurus in June of last year to develop a long-acting incretin therapy, Peptron, Inc.’s stock price hit the daily lower limit at that time as well. In response, Peptron, Inc. stated, “The technical evaluation with Lilly for the development of a long-acting obesity treatment is solid and proceeding smoothly,” noting that its drug delivery method differed from that of Kamurus.

The market interpreted this to mean that Lilly was developing a long-acting form of tirzepatide through Peptron, Inc. separately from its collaboration with Kamurus. Subsequently, market analysts continued to link the Lilly-Peptron joint research to the possibility of developing a “once-monthly Mounjaro.”

However, if these remarks are accurate, Tuzepatide was not originally included in the scope of research between Peptron, Inc. and Lilly, raising the possibility that the “once-monthly Mounjaro” project anticipated by the market is actually part of the agreement with Kamurus. That said, Kamurus has only stated that the agreement with Lilly includes GIP/GLP-1 dual agonists; it has not specifically disclosed Tuzepatide.

A biotech industry insider pointed out, “The essence of this situation lies not so much in whether the joint research will continue, but in the fact that a significant gap has been revealed between the expectations the market has held for over a year regarding the Tuzepatide project and the actual subject of the research,” adding, “It has become inevitable for Peptron, Inc. to explain when it became aware of this and why it did not correct the market’s interpretation.”

In a phone call with Edaily that day, CEO Choi clarified the factual context of his remarks, saying, “That’s not what I meant; I meant something else.” However, when asked what exactly he had meant, he avoided giving a specific answer, stating, “It’s difficult to answer that right now.”