“Obesity” emerged as the most click-driving keyword of the year. According to Hit News data, three of the top five most-viewed articles focused on Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, highlighting overwhelming reader interest.

Roughly a year after Wegovy (semaglutide) entered the Korean market in October, Lilly launched Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in August, igniting a full-scale rivalry between the industry’s two giants. As competition over pricing and efficacy intensified, the market entered a new phase—one that also opened opportunities for domestic players developing oral formulations and multi-mechanism therapies.

Mounjaro’s aggressive push reshaped the global and Korean obesity markets this year. While Wegovy secured first-mover advantage as a GLP-1 receptor agonist, Mounjaro rapidly closed the gap with its differentiated dual GLP-1/GIP mechanism.

In Phase 3 trials, Mounjaro achieved average weight loss of 22.5%, surpassing Wegovy’s 13.2%. Following its Korean launch, Lilly prioritized low-dose options (2.5 mg, 5 mg) to expand patient access. Novo Nordisk responded by cutting Wegovy’s wholesale prices by up to 42%, signaling an early price-defense strategy.

Financially, Lilly reported global Mounjaro sales of $6.52 billion, up 109% year over year, driven largely by growth outside the U.S. Novo Nordisk posted Q3 obesity-care sales of $9.4 billion (+41% at constant exchange rates), with Wegovy contributing $3.2 billion. Despite strong performance, the company lowered its full-year outlook, reflecting mounting competitive pressure.

As global big pharma doubles down on injectable therapies, Korean companies are differentiating through oral dosing and next-generation multi-agonists.

D&D Pharmatech has drawn global attention with ORALINK, a proprietary platform that enhances oral absorption of peptide drugs through biotin conjugation. In beagle studies, ORALINK showed 12.5-fold higher absorption than Rybelsus. The company licensed six candidates to U.S. biotech Metsera, spotlighting the platform’s scalability.

Interest surged further in September after Pfizer acquired Metsera for approximately $4.9 billion, aiming to reinforce its obesity pipeline. Given Pfizer’s past setbacks in oral GLP-1 development, expectations rose around ORALINK-based assets such as MET-224o, triggering a sharp rise in D&D Pharmatech’s share price.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical also delivered concrete progress. Its once-weekly GLP-1 agonist efpeglenatide (HM11260C) met primary endpoints in a South Korean Phase 3 trial, bringing commercialization of a homegrown obesity drug into clearer focus. At 40 weeks, 79.42% of patients achieved at least 5% weight loss, with an average reduction of 9.75%. While efficacy was comparable to Wegovy, gastrointestinal side effects appeared less frequent. Hanmi targets a Korean launch in the second half of 2026.

In parallel, Hanmi is advancing HM15275, a GLP-1/GIP/glucagon triple agonist now in global Phase 2 trials, with commercialization targeted around 2030. The program emphasizes “weight-loss quality,” including muscle preservation.

Ildong Pharmaceutical has also gained attention with ID110521156, a small-molecule oral GLP-1 candidate. In a four-week Phase 1 multiple-ascending-dose study, the high-dose cohort achieved average weight loss of 9.9%, exceeding levels reported by global peers. Weight reduction was driven by fat loss without muscle depletion, and gastrointestinal side effects remained mild—even without dose titration.

The intensifying rivalry between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly has propelled the obesity drug market into a new phase, where next-generation multi-agonists—including triple agonists—are emerging as the next inflection point.

Riding this momentum, Korean pharmaceutical companies are stepping onto the global stage. D&D Pharmatech has validated its oral platform, while Hanmi Pharmaceutical is moving closer to commercializing a domestically developed obesity therapy.

Looking ahead to next year, expectations are rising over whether K-bio players—armed with fewer side effects and more convenient formulations—can challenge global pharma’s dominance in the obesity arena.