Olatorepatide

Hansoh Pharma is currently running both a phase 2b study of its GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist in diabetes and a phase 3 trial in obesity in its home territory of China.\n Regeneron is paying Hansoh Pharma $80 million upfront for a phase 3-stage GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist the companies believe can hold its own against Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.As well as the upfront fee, Regeneron has agreed to pay up to $1.93 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones to secure the ex-China rights to the asset, dubbed HS-20094. Hansoh has already studied the drug in more than 1,000 patients, according to Regeneron, which claimed that HS-20094 has a “potentially similar profile” to Lilly’s approved GLP-1/GIP agonist.Hansoh is currently running both a phase 2b study of the drug in diabetes and a phase 3 trial in obesity in its home territory of China.“Despite the transformative impact of recent weight loss therapies, significant unmet needs remain, including the ability to sustain weight loss and maintain muscle mass over time,” Regeneron Chief Scientific Officer George Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., said in a June 2 release.“Securing access to a GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist will increase the versatility of our clinical programs for obesity and accelerate our mission to support quality, sustained weight loss and the associated long-term health benefits,” Yancopoulos added.Regeneron already has an obesity pipeline in the works in the form of the GDF8 antibody trevogrumab. In a separate update this morning, the company unveiled interim results from an ongoing phase 2 study that it claimed showed combining trevogrumab with semaglutide—the ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy—“helped preserve lean mass while increasing loss of fat mass.”A number of other biopharmas are chasing the same holy grail of treating obesity without losing muscle. They include Roche, which is hoping that combining an injectable dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist acquired from Carmot Therapeutics alongside its own anti-myostatin antibody could also help patients reduce the muscle loss typically associated with losing weight. Regeneron’s own trial is also assessing allying its anti-activin antibody garetosmab to see what impact that could have on weight loss.“In-licensing a late-stage GLP1/GIP agonist will allow us to study combinations with Regeneron’s proprietary drugs and drug candidates in order to holistically address muscle loss and potentially other comorbidities of obesity, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and liver conditions,” Boaz Hirshberg, M.D., senior vice president for clinical development, internal medicine, at Regeneron, explained in the Hansoh deal release.“This is an exciting development in our obesity work at Regeneron, which also includes the muscle-sparing phase 2 COURAGE study investigating the addition of trevogrumab.”Regeneron isn’t the only Big Pharma to spot potential in Hansoh’s obesity pipeline. Merck & Co. ended last year paying $112 million upfront for a preclinical GLP-1 drug the company hopes will have a wide range of cardiometabolic benefits.