Hanmi efocipegtrutide patent in the US aims a liver drug at lung damage

Hanmi Pharmaceutical has added a US use patent to its lead liver candidate, stretching the drug's legal reach from fatty liver disease to lung damage after viral infection. The Hanmi efocipegtrutide patent, registered on 15 September according to US Patent and Trademark Office records cited in a Korean newspaper report, covers complications such as pulmonary fibrosis that can follow infections like COVID-19. No lung trial has been reported. The filing shows how Korean drugmakers are testing next generation GLP-1 compounds well beyond weight loss.

What the US patent gives Hanmi

The report, published by Seoul Economic Daily on 5 November Seoul time, says the patent covers the use of a single molecule that activates three hormone receptors at once: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon. The claimed use is treating the aftereffects of respiratory viral infections. The newspaper lists pulmonary fibrosis, shortness of breath and pneumonia among the complications in scope, and names COVID-19 as one example of the infections behind them. The Hanmi efocipegtrutide patent belongs to the Seoul listed company, which trades under the code 128940. The report did not give a patent number, a filing date or the claim wording, and this desk could not check the record itself, so the scope described here rests on the newspaper's account.

A use patent protects a way of using a compound, not the compound itself, and it says nothing about whether the treatment works in people. Patent examiners judge whether an idea is new and inventive; regulators such as the US Food and Drug Administration judge safety and benefit from trial data. So a patent of this kind does not mean a lung medicine is on the way. What it gives Hanmi is a claim on this use in the United States if the company later decides to test it there. In the material reviewed for this story, Hanmi did not say it plans a lung study, what design such a study might have, or when it could start. The patent sits beside a liver programme still in mid stage testing.

Why a MASH drug is pointed at pulmonary fibrosis

Efocipegtrutide, also coded HM15211, is in Phase 2 trials as a treatment for metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, the inflamed and scarring form of fatty liver disease. As a triple agonist, it is built to act on the GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors together. Hanmi's case for the lungs rests on two properties it attributes to the molecule: lowering inflammation and slowing fibrosis, the build up of scar tissue. The company believes those same effects could apply to lung tissue that is injured and scarred after a respiratory infection. The report cites no animal or human data on lungs, so for now the lung use is a hypothesis carried over from liver work. This desk found no published lung results either.

The report cites no animal or human data on lungs, so for now the lung use is a hypothesis carried over from liver work.

A Hanmi official told the newspaper that the patent was filed "in consideration of the potential to expand the indications for efocipegtrutide." The official said the aim was "to secure the possibility" of treating lung damage after infection, based on what the company called the drug's "strong anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects." The outlet translated these quotes from Korean and warns that the wording may differ from the original. Hanmi has a second triple agonist in the clinic as well: zantrutide, coded HM15275, which US Phase 2 studies are now testing in obesity and, separately, in type 2 diabetes. At home the company already has a marketed obesity medicine, since its efpeglenatide pen reached Korean clinics on 29 October with limited stock.

Korean candidates move into the liver and brain

Hanmi is not alone. Dong-A ST is studying DA-1726, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and glucagon receptors, for obesity and as a possible MASH treatment, through its US affiliate MetaVia. According to the report, early US testing at Phase 1 cut liver stiffness as well as body weight and blood sugar. D&D Pharmatech, listed under the code 347850, is further along in liver disease. Its zabofegdutide, coded DD01, is also a GLP-1 and glucagon dual agonist, and the newspaper said a US Phase 2 trial confirmed by liver biopsy that steatohepatitis resolved and fibrosis improved. Neither summary gave patient numbers, response rates or comparisons with placebo, so the size of these effects cannot be judged from the report.

D&D Pharmatech is also taking a GLP-1 drug into the brain. NLY01 is a GLP-1 receptor agonist with a long action, designed to shield nerve cells by damping inflammation in brain tissue. A US Phase 2 study in people with Parkinson's disease is finished, the report said, and work in multiple sclerosis is under way. The report did not describe the outcome of that trial. A recent industry count found six Korean candidates among the obesity drugs discovered in Asia Pacific, and the table below shows how many Korean projects are now being aimed at organs other than fat tissue. Stages are as the newspaper reported them on 5 November and were not checked against trial registries.

Global rivals and what to watch next

The Korean push follows a path set by larger rivals. Eli Lilly has secured an obstructive sleep apnea indication for Zepbound, its tirzepatide obesity brand. Novo Nordisk has won cardiovascular and MASH indications for Wegovy and a chronic kidney disease indication for Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient, semaglutide. Survodutide, another GLP-1 and glucagon dual agonist, is in Phase 3 testing at Boehringer Ingelheim for MASH and liver fibrosis. An unnamed industry official quoted in the report said GLP-1 drugs are becoming "platform treatments spanning chronic diseases as a whole." The same official said early indications and differentiated efficacy will decide success in the global market. That is an industry view, not a measured result, and none of the Korean candidates named here is approved for these uses.

For readers tracking Korea, three things are worth watching. The first is the Phase 2 MASH data for efocipegtrutide, for which the report gave no date. The second is whether Hanmi or a partner registers a trial in lung damage after infection, which would put the Hanmi efocipegtrutide patent to a real test. The third is fuller detail on the Dong-A ST and D&D Pharmatech results, including patient numbers and placebo comparisons. Interest at home is high: a recent survey found that about one in ten Korean adults had used or been prescribed a GLP-1 obesity drug in the past year. This story reports on research and patents and is not medical advice.

Conclusion

The Hanmi efocipegtrutide patent extends a liver candidate's legal reach to lung damage after viral infection, but it is a claim on an idea rather than evidence that the idea works. The drug remains in Phase 2 for MASH, and no lung study has been reported. Together with Dong-A ST and D&D Pharmatech, Hanmi is part of a Korean effort to move GLP-1 based peptides into liver, lung and brain disease. Trial results, not patents, will show which of these uses hold up.