Hanmi Pharmaceutical's (128940) homegrown obesity treatment Efpe, whose active ingredient is efpeglenatide, is expected to cost about 120,000 won for the first month of treatment. That is roughly half the price of rival products Wegovy and Mounjaro, suggesting the late entrant is leading with price competitiveness.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical has recently set its supply price per pen, including value-added tax, at 24,200 won for the 2 mg dose, 40,700 won for 4 mg, 57,200 won for 6 mg, 69,300 won for 8 mg and 74,800 won for 10 mg, according to pharmaceutical and biotech industry sources on the 14th. Based on what patients pay, the cost is expected to be 129,800 won in the first month using 2 mg and 4 mg doses, 228,800 won in the second month at 6 mg, 277,200 won in the third month at 8 mg and 299,200 won in the fourth month at 10 mg. All figures include value-added tax.
The pricing is more than 50% below that of competing drugs. At starting doses, Efpe is 37% cheaper than Wegovy and 53% cheaper than Mounjaro, while at maintenance doses it is 17% cheaper than Wegovy and 19% cheaper than Mounjaro. Efpe is a once-weekly GLP-1 obesity treatment that applies Hanmi Pharmaceutical's long-acting drug delivery platform Lapscovery, and it won marketing approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety early this month as Korea's 45th homegrown new drug. It comes in five doses — 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mg — and was developed for adults with obesity or who are overweight and do not have diabetes.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical has set an annual sales target of more than 100 billion won for Efpe. "Efpe is a prescription drug not covered by insurance, so the company's supply price and the final cost patients actually pay at medical institutions are not identical," a Hanmi Pharmaceutical official said. "It can vary depending on the treatment and prescribing environment at each medical institution."