South Korea’s pharmaceutical company, Celltrion, is developing a new oral obesity drug with four modes of action. The company plans to seek preclinical approval for this drug next year. Celltrion aims to make a big impact in the growing obesity treatment market, similar to how COVID-19 antibody drugs became very successful.
Celltrion plans to spend about 5.4 trillion won (around $3.67 billion) to build new production facilities in South Korea and the United States. This investment will increase its capacity to produce biosimilar drugs and support the development of new medicines.
The new drug, called CT-G32, is said to be more advanced than existing treatments like GLP-1 drugs and dual- or triple-agonist therapies, such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. Chairman Seo Jung-jin said they expect to finalize three candidate compounds by the end of this year. The new drug is meant to overcome common issues with current obesity drugs, such as varied patient responses and muscle loss.
Obesity treatments have gained popularity, partly because well-known figures, including Elon Musk, have talked about their effectiveness. Besides weight loss, these drugs also help with heart disease, high blood pressure, and kidney problems. The global market for obesity drugs earned about $15 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to $150 billion by 2035.
Celltrion’s quadruple-action drug aims to reduce weight by about 25%, which is higher than the 5-15% weight loss seen with Ozempic and the 15-22.5% reduction seen with Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro. The company also hopes to reduce the number of patients who do not respond to treatment to less than 5%.
The drug will be taken orally, offering an easy option for people who do not want injections or want a simpler way to keep weight off. Celltrion plans to finish animal testing this year and start preclinical regulatory approval next year.
Besides obesity drugs, Celltrion will invest up to 700 billion won to expand its manufacturing in the U.S. This comes as the company seeks to avoid uncertainties about import tariffs on biosimilars. Celltrion is buying a large biologics production facility from Eli Lilly in New Jersey for about 1.4 trillion won, including acquisition costs.
Over five years, Celltrion plans to add more production equipment to increase capacity further. They will also build new plants in South Korea for drug substance, drug products, and pre-filled syringes.
R&D spending will rise to about 800 billion won next year and 1 trillion won by 2027, funded by growing sales. Analysts expect Celltrion’s sales momentum to continue due to new products for conditions like osteoporosis, urticaria, and autoimmune diseases.
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