Ildong Pharmaceutical's research and development company, Yunobia, revealed the research results of a new drug candidate, 'ID110521156', targeting metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting held in Chicago, from 20th to 23rd.
According to Ildong Pharmaceutical on the 25th, ID110521156 showed a weight loss effect of up to 12% in a Phase 1 clinical study targeting overweight adults.
This is an oral glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 mimetic drug taken once a day. GLP-1 promotes the secretion of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar after meals, and inhibits the secretion of glucagon, which raises blood sugar.
Looking at the key data from this clinical trial, the average weight loss effect for the 100mg dosing group over four weeks was 6.9%, with a maximum of 11.9%. The percentage of clinical participants who lost more than 5% of their weight was 55.6% for the 50mg dosing group, 66.7% for the 100mg dosing group, and 0% for the placebo group.
The company explained that gastrointestinal side effects such as vomiting and nausea occurred significantly less than existing injectable treatments. There were no cases of stopping the clinical trial due to serious adverse reactions. Some adverse reactions were reported to be at a mild level that did not affect liver toxicity-related indicators.
The GLP-1 class obesity treatments currently on the market include Wegovy from the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and Zepbound (marketed in Korea as Maunja) from the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, both of which are injectable.
Generally, dose escalation studies start with low doses and gradually increase to higher doses to find the appropriate dosage, but this substance is undergoing clinical trials using an effective dose due to its low gastrointestinal side effects.
A company official said, "We plan to accelerate commercialization, including enhancing the speed of subsequent clinical development and pursuing technology exports (license-out)."