Daewon Pharmaceutical will unveil preclinical data for a quadruple-action obesity drug at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting. The company plans to accelerate development of its next-generation metabolic disease pipeline after confirming the potential for cell regeneration and organ protection in addition to weight loss effects.
Daewon Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it will participate in ADA 2026, held in New Orleans, the United States, from the 5th to the 8th (local time), where it will present preclinical research results on a "glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), glucagon (GCG) and gastrin quadruple agonist" being jointly developed with Pharm-Earth Bioscience. The candidate is a multi-target drug pipeline that adds a gastrin receptor activation mechanism to the existing triple agonist mechanism.
Existing obesity treatments have raised concerns that weight loss effects plateau or organ function declines during long-term administration. Daewon Pharmaceutical believes this candidate can supplement cell regeneration and organ protection effects through the gastrin mechanism. At the meeting, the company will disclose its proprietary multi-agonist design approach, receptor activity indicators, and data on changes in body weight, food intake and blood glucose confirmed in animal models.
In preclinical trials, the candidate showed weight loss of up to more than 50% compared to the control group on the 22nd day after administration in diet-induced obesity mouse models. Fasting blood glucose also dropped to as low as 70 mg/dL by substance, compared to 223 mg/dL in the control group, confirming pharmacological efficacy.
"We have accumulated preclinical data on a differentiated multi-agonist pipeline in the metabolic disease field," said Kim Joo-il, vice president of Daewon Pharmaceutical's research and development (R&D) division. "Based on the integration of the gastrin mechanism, we will develop a metabolic disease drug that simultaneously targets not only obesity treatment but also organ function recovery."
