Genentech, the U.S. subsidiary of Roche, already holds a broad range of obesity drug candidates, drawing attention to why it added Hanmi Pharmaceutical's "HM17321" to its lineup. The move is read as a strategy to widen personalized treatment options tailored to patient characteristics and needs, by securing an additional candidate that drives fat loss while preserving and building muscle through a mechanism different from existing drugs.
Genentech already holds an obesity treatment lineup spanning incretin-class drugs aimed at powerful weight loss, amylin analogs offering relatively strong tolerability, and oral formulations, according to the pharmaceutical industry on the 24th.
Among the incretin class, the GLP-1/GIP dual agonist "enisepatide (CT-388)" showed a 22.5% weight-loss effect versus placebo at 48 weeks in a Phase 2 trial. The company also holds "CT-996," an oral GLP-1 treatment taken once daily. "Petrelintide," an amylin analog secured last year from Zealand Pharma, is also in development. What is notable is that Genentech already holds a candidate for improving body composition. The company is evaluating in clinical trials a strategy of combining "amugulobat," an anti-myostatin antibody, with incretin-class treatments to reduce muscle loss during weight loss.
Even so, the additional acquisition of HM17321 is analyzed as a step toward expanding treatment options for individual patients by assembling candidates with differing mechanisms. HM17321 is a long-acting urocortin (UCN2) analog that simultaneously targets fat loss and muscle preservation and growth. It differs from existing incretin-class drugs, which work mainly by suppressing appetite, and also acts differently from amugulobat, which blocks the pathway that inhibits muscle growth.
Future combination strategies are also drawing attention. In preclinical studies, Hanmi Pharmaceutical confirmed the potential for weight loss and improved body composition when HM17321 was combined with GLP-1-class treatments. Combination studies with an amylin analog also pointed to the potential for fat loss and improved lean body mass.
The industry expects the focus of obesity drug competition to shift from "how much weight is lost" to "what kind of weight is lost and what is retained." Genentech's introduction of HM17321 is likewise read as a strategy to secure multiple treatment options — across the incretin, amylin and muscle pathways — to prepare for the coming market for personalized obesity treatment.
