“130,000 won for four weeks, half the price of Mounjaro” ... Korea’s first domestically developed obesity drug, Epe, to be prescribed starting today

[Financial News] Epe, the first domestically developed glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) obesity treatment, developed by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, will be prescribed at some medical institutions starting on the 29th. Its active ingredient is efpeglenatide.

Epe’s supply price for the first four weeks has been set at about 130,000 won, roughly half the price of Mounjaro, raising interest in whether its competitive pricing will help it gain a foothold in South Korea’s obesity drug market. However, the initial supply is limited, and it is expected to take some time to expand.
With Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, launched in August last year, sharing South Korea’s obesity treatment market, attention is focused on whether Epe’s entry will change the competitive landscape.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical plans to increase Epe’s market share in South Korea’s GLP-1 obesity drug market, which has grown to 2 trillion won a year, and establish a three-way competitive landscape.
Epe acts on GLP-1 receptors found in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract to suppress appetite and delay gastric emptying, prolonging the feeling of fullness.
The available doses are 2 mg, 4 mg, 6 mg, 8 mg and 10 mg. Treatment starts with the 2-mg product, with the dose gradually increased until patients take the 10-mg product.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical emphasizes that Epe is a “K-obesity drug.”
It highlights that a South Korean company carried out the entire process, from identifying the candidate compound to commercialization, and obtained clinical trial results from trials conducted exclusively among Korean patients.
According to Hanmi Pharmaceutical, in a Phase 3 clinical trial involving 448 Korean patients with obesity, the group treated for 40 weeks had an average weight reduction of 9.75%, while some patients lost up to 30% of their body weight.

Epe is said to be somewhat less effective for weight loss than Wegovy and Mounjaro, but it is cheaper.
According to the pharmaceutical industry, Hanmi Pharmaceutical set Epe’s supply prices at 24,200 won for 2 mg, 40,700 won for 4 mg, 57,200 won for 6 mg, 69,300 won for 8 mg and 74,800 won for 10 mg.
Epe’s supply price for the first four weeks is 129,800 won, while patients are expected to pay somewhat more than that.
The subsequent supply prices are 228,800 won for weeks 5–8 and 277,200 won for weeks 9–12. After 13 weeks, a four-week course costs 299,200 won.
Wegovy’s supply price for four weeks is around 210,000 won at the lowest dose, while Mounjaro’s supply price is 270,000 won.
The market expects Epe’s success to depend on its competitive pricing and whether its weight-loss benefits are proven.
A Hanmi Pharmaceutical representative said, “We will continue to improve patients’ access to treatment through rigorous quality control and a reasonable pricing system, so that Epe can establish itself successfully in the domestic market,” and added, “We will do our utmost to help improve the quality of life of patients with obesity.”

[email protected] An Gaeul Reporter