Hanmi Pharmaceutical is strengthening its next-generation obesity treatment portfolio by unveiling for the first time an innovative obesity drug under development that targets muscle growth and improved muscle function.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical announced Thursday that it will present eight studies on the world's first muscle-boosting obesity treatment "LA-UCN2 (HM17321)" and the next-generation muscle-enhancing treatment "LA-MSTN (HM500197)" at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting (ADA 2026), to be held in New Orleans from June 5 to 8.
HM500197, which will be unveiled for the first time at this conference, is the world's first peptide-based candidate substance with a myostatin-inhibiting mechanism. Myostatin is a protein that suppresses muscle growth, and regulating it can reduce muscle loss during weight reduction and improve muscle function. HM500197 is a new pipeline distinct from the previously disclosed HM17321, giving Hanmi Pharmaceutical two pillars of pipelines in the muscle-strengthening-based obesity treatment field.
Recently, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class obesity treatments have shown excellent weight loss effects, but a limitation has been raised that 20 to 40 percent of the lost weight is associated with lean mass reduction. Skeletal muscle loss can lead to lower basal metabolic rate and weakened muscle strength, making it an important variable in long-term weight management and treatment of elderly patients. Due to such limitations, the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry is currently focusing on combination therapies that regulate the myostatin and activin pathways involved in muscle growth.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical explained that, unlike antibody or Fc fusion protein-based candidates, HM500197 is designed on a peptide basis, giving it differentiation in terms of combination formulation development. This candidate substance is the fourth key pipeline of Hanmi Pharmaceutical's obesity drug project "H.O.P," and was derived using the company's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and structural modeling platform "HARP."
Through the H.O.P project, Hanmi Pharmaceutical is building a customized obesity treatment portfolio tailored to weight levels and metabolic characteristics. Its leading pipeline, efpeglenatide, is being prepared for commercialization within this year, while the triple agonist "HM15275" has entered Phase 2 clinical trials in the U.S. and HM17321 has entered Phase 1 clinical trials, both progressing smoothly.
"We will complete the development of globally innovative new drugs so that obesity patients around the world can achieve healthy weight loss that effectively reduces body fat while strengthening muscles," said Choi In-young, head of Hanmi Pharmaceutical's Future Growth Division.
