(Health Korea News / Soon-ho Lee) Huons Group appears to be interested in developing a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)-based obesity treatment. While a number of domestic pharmaceutical companies are already developing related treatments, attention is being paid to whether competition will heat up further with the addition of Huons.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office recently disclosed the specification for the invention of ‘Pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating obesity containing GLP (Glucagon Like Peptide) analogue as an active ingredient’, which Huons Lab, a subsidiary of Huons Global, applied for a patent in June of last year.
The company explains that the GLP analogue of the invention is an analogue of GLP-1 and GLP-2, and has a long half-life, a long in vivo activity period, and excellent effectiveness in preventing or treating metabolic diseases.
GLP is an appetite control hormone secreted from the small intestine when food is consumed. It controls appetite by increasing satiety and regulates blood sugar by inducing insulin secretion from the pancreas. Currently, various types of GLP analogues are being used to treat diabetes and obesity.
However, its own activity is insufficient and its half-life in vivo is very short, so its use is limited, which is a major disadvantage. In particular, currently commercially available drugs such as ‘Byetafen Injection (ingredient name: exenatide)’, ‘Lixumiafen Injection (ingredient name: lixisenatide)’, and ‘Victozafen Injection (ingredient name: liraglutide, obesity treatment product name: ‘Sak’) GLP-1 analogues such as ‘Senda’)’ must be administered by subcutaneous injection once or twice a day, and the process of disinfecting the injection site and injecting at a set time every day is necessary. It is complex, making it less convenient to take, and rashes and swelling at the injection site may occur.
Against this background, Huons Lab conducted research to improve the half-life, storage method, and dosing cycle of GLP analogues and developed and completed the long-acting GLP analogue ‘HU020K2FA’.
According to the patent application specification submitted by Huons Lab, ‘HU020K2FA’ contains 17 amino acids in the same sequence compared to the GLP-1 sequence and 23 amino acids in the same sequence compared to the GLP-2 sequence, and lysine and palmitic acid are added to the C-terminus. It is characterized by being
As a result of cell experiments conducted by the company, the GLP-1 activity of ‘HU020K2FA’ was confirmed to be approximately twice as high as that of liraglutide and semaglutide (product name: ‘Wegobi’). Huons Lab explains that this means that the weight loss effect of ‘HU020K2FA’ may be significantly better than that of liraglutide or semaglutide.
Huons Lab once again confirmed this effect through an obesity animal model. As a result of drug administration for 4 weeks using a diet-induced obesity mouse model, ‘HU020K2FA’ was superior to liraglutide and showed a weight reduction effect equivalent to that of semaglutide.
Huons Lab confirmed that long-acting peptide technology is a very important component in increasing the efficacy of obesity treatment, and additionally produced a long-acting GLP-1 analogue with longer-lasting effects.
As a result, some candidate substances, such as ‘HU020M4’ and ‘HU020M5’, had a half-life that was 1.5 to 2 times longer than the previously discovered ‘HU020K2FA’. This means that even small doses can be effective. In fact, ‘HU020M4’ and ‘HU020M5’ showed a similar level of fat reduction effect at one-third the dose of ‘HU020K2FA’ and the same dose as semaglutide.
AST/ALT levels increased by obesity decreased significantly more in the group administered long-acting GLP-1 analogues developed by Huons Lab, such as ‘HU020K2FA’, ‘HU020M4’, and ‘HU020M5’, than in the group administered semaglutide.
Liver weight and liver steatosis scores were also significantly reduced for Huons Lab’s three candidates compared to semaglutide, and in particular, ‘HU020M4’ and ‘HU020M5’ reduced neutral fat in the liver to the level of a normal mouse (vehicle).
Huons Lab used ‘HU020M4’, which showed the best efficacy when administered QD (once per day) among many candidate substances, and analyzed whether the anti-obesity effect persisted even when the administration cycle was extended. As a result, it was confirmed through animal experiments that it exhibited superior anti-obesity activity compared to semaglutad even when administered in a cycle of once/two days.
Huons Lab researchers said, “The GLP analogue of the present invention not only reduced the body weight and fat of the subject, but also reduced the levels of liver ASL and AST, liver weight, liver steatosis, and liver triglyceride levels,” adding, “This is an excellent “This suggests that it can be useful as a preventative or therapeutic agent for metabolic diseases,” he explained.
Copyright © Health Korea News Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited
Source: www.hkn24.com
