D&D Pharmatech is set to release preclinical results for an obesity treatment designed to preserve muscle while reducing body fat.
The company (347850) said on the 25th that it will present preclinical study results for DD18, a new obesity drug candidate that is an analog of urocortin 2 (UCN2), at ObesityWeek 2026, to be held in Washington in November.
D&D Pharmatech will present the preclinical results for DD18, a UCN2 analog that acts selectively on the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 2 (CRFR2), in a poster session at the meeting. Under the conference's rules, the preclinical data will be released on November 14, local time.
Building on these preclinical results, the company aims to accelerate follow-up development and formally enter clinical development of DD18 next year. It also plans to pursue commercialization talks with potential global partners in parallel.
UCN2 is an endogenous peptide that acts selectively on CRFR2. It is known to be involved in fat and skeletal muscle metabolism through a mechanism that differs from existing incretin-based drugs. As a result, it is drawing attention as a new approach to obesity treatment that could reduce body fat while maintaining muscle mass and preserving lean body mass.
"We began developing UCN2-based drugs preemptively two years ago and have been developing DD18 in-house," D&D Pharmatech CEO Lee Seul-gi said. "By unveiling DD18's differentiated preclinical results on the global stage, we will actively explore commercialization possibilities with potential global partners."
Meanwhile, interest in the mechanism is growing after another UCN2 analog candidate recently led to a major licensing-out deal. On the 24th, Hanmi Pharmaceutical licensed out its UCN2 analog HM17321 to Genentech, a subsidiary of global drugmaker Roche, in a deal worth up to 3.2 trillion won ($2.3 billion).
