[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Hanmi Science, the holding company of the Hanmi Group, announced on the 13th that it will set the group's future growth engine as "obesity management" and launch "H.O.P," a project to develop new drugs to treat obesity in earnest.

The project will be headed by Lim Joo-hyun, head of Hanmi Science's strategic planning office (President of Hanmi Pharmaceutical), the eldest daughter of the late chairman Lim Sung-ki, founder of Hanmi Pharmaceutical.

The project, named after the first letter of the Korea-U.S. obesity pipeline (Hanmi Obesity Pipeline), is the first major new drug development project to be unveiled by President Lim Joo-hyun since he was appointed as the head of the strategic planning office. Lim has been preoccupied with the existing unnecessary business arrangements. The project will involve the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Research and Development (R&D) Center, the New Product Development Headquarters, the Strategic Marketing Team, the Pyeongtaek Bio Plant, the Paltan Pharmaceutical Research Institute and researchers from the Korea-U.S. Fine Chemical.

The goal of the HOP project is to introduce customized innovative new drugs that solve all processes such as obesity prevention, treatment, and management.

Efpeglenatide, an GLP-1-based substance that Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced in July that it would develop as a customized obesity treatment for Koreans, is likely to be the first new drug.

Efpeglenatide is a candidate substance for diabetes treatment that Hanmi Pharmaceutical returned after transferring technology to Sanofi in the past. As clinical trials of obese patients with diabetes confirmed that they lost about 5% of their weight, ordinary obese patients are expected to lose weight by more than 10%. The goal is to enter phase III clinical trials in Korea next month and release them in 2026.

 

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