‘Korean Wegovy’ Epe set to launch as obesity-drug misuse raises fresh alarms [Smart Wellness]

[Financial News] Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s efpeglenatide, anticipated as South Korea’s first homegrown novel obesity drug, is nearing launch, stirring up the weight-loss treatment market. The arrival of an obesity drug tailored to Korean patients is welcome, but concerns in the medical community are also growing amid a wave of obesity-drug misuse that has already become part of everyday life.

The key to weight-loss treatments—from Eli Lilly’s already-marketed Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy to Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s soon-to-launch efpeglenatide (Epe)—is regulating the GLP-1 hormone. The hormone is released by the small intestine when food is consumed. It stimulates the hypothalamus in the brain, increasing the feeling of fullness, and slows gastrointestinal motility, keeping food in the stomach longer. This naturally helps reduce the amount of food people eat.
Wegovy acts on GLP-1 receptors alone, while Mounjaro differs in that it stimulates both GLP-1 and the receptor for GIP, another hormone secreted by the gut. Like Wegovy, Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Epe is a GLP-1-only agonist.
Epe, however, uses proprietary sustained-release formulation technology and was designed to improve stability in the body and reduce adverse reactions. It has also been credited with securing efficacy and safety suited to Korean metabolism through a Phase 3 clinical trial in Koreans, who have less muscle mass and a higher proportion of visceral fat than Westerners. Another distinguishing feature is that domestic production could greatly improve supply stability and affordability compared with global novel drugs.

The problem is that these weight-loss treatments are straying from their original purpose and turning into “short-term diet injections.” According to health authorities and drug safety investigations, a substantial proportion of obesity drugs are being prescribed on a non-reimbursed basis for cosmetic purposes to people who are of normal weight or mildly overweight, rather than patients with severe obesity. Illegal resale of “unopened” products through online communities or social media, as well as prescriptions obtained by exploiting telemedicine platforms, also continues unabated.
Clinicians warn that when people of normal weight use obesity drugs indiscriminately for cosmetic purposes, they may experience not only gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but also extensive “telogen effluvium” as drastic calorie restriction sharply reduces the nutrients reaching hair follicles.
In addition, weight loss can sharply reduce skeletal muscle mass as well as fat. Once people stop taking the medication, their suppressed appetites may surge, leaving them facing a “yo-yo effect” in which they rapidly regain weight. There have also been reports of people seeking emergency care, albeit rarely, for serious medical complications such as acute pancreatitis, gallstones and cholecystitis.
Experts agree that obesity treatments should not be used as a means of dieting for cosmetic purposes. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s official eligibility criteria are patients with severe obesity and a BMI (body mass index) of 30 kg/m2 or higher, or patients who are overweight with a BMI of 27 kg/m2 or higher and have metabolic complications such as hypertension or diabetes.

[email protected] Kim Hyeon-seon Reporter