Hanmi's Eppe is due this month at 129,800 won wholesale for four weeks, against about 210,000 to 270,000 won for Wegovy and Mounjaro. At the 299,200 won maintenance dose, Seoul Economic Daily puts the gap at 17% to 19%.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 13%
- Operator
- Operator 37%
- Investor
- Investor 50%
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives60
- Confidence62
South Korea has written 2.3 times 2025's Wegovy and Mounjaro prescriptions in eight months
South Korea logged 2,789,992 Wegovy and Mounjaro prescriptions through August, about 2.3 times all of 2025. The data came from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service via a lawmaker's office, and the monthly run-rate now sits near 465,000.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption78
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence64
Mounjaro at a third of Korea's price draws Koreans to Japanese clinics
Korean customs detected 5,030 illegal obesity-drug imports through August, up from four in 2024, as Koreans fly to Japan for cheaper Mounjaro. Korea's visible answer so far is tighter border checks, with no reported cut to clinic prices for the uninsured drug.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption30
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Korea's regulator approved Hanmi Pharmaceutical's efpeglenatide, the first homegrown GLP-1 obesity drug, after patients lost 9.02% of body weight in 40 weeks. That is less than Wegovy and Mounjaro showed in longer trials, so Hanmi's case rests on milder side effects and a price for long-term patients that it has not yet set.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption8
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives60
- Confidence58
Price decides whether Hanmi's Eppe takes share from Mounjaro and Wegovy
Hanmi Pharmaceutical's Eppe, Korea's first home-grown GLP-1 obesity drug, is approved and expected to launch at about half Wegovy's 200,000-won-plus price. Its trial weight loss trails both incumbents, so the launch price will set how much of a Mounjaro-dominated market it can reach.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption8
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives40
- Confidence50
Hanmi's Cheaper Obesity Drug Eppe Could Undercut Lilly's Mounjaro More Than Novo's Wegovy
Hanmi Pharmaceutical's Eppe could launch in Korea before year-end at an estimated 150,000 won for four weeks, 45% below Mounjaro's cheapest listing. Lilly won about 85% of the market at a higher price than Wegovy, so Novo, which has cut once already, is the likelier incumbent to cut again.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence40
Japan's obesity society warns cosmetic Mounjaro users off crash dieting on the drug
Japan's obesity society warned cosmetic GLP-1 users of side-effect risks, as 35 of about 950 Mounjaro side-effect reports involved dieting or cosmetic use. The health ministry separately said the drugs should not be used casually as weight-loss pills.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+5
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Seized Wegovy parcels outnumber licensed shipments nine to one in Korea's customs data
Korea's grey channel for weight-loss drugs now dwarfs the licensed one by case count, and a foreign web price that domestic prescriptions cannot match is doing the work.
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives40
- Confidence62
FDA investigates possible link between GLP-1 drugs and rare eye condition amid New Jersey lawsuits
The FDA is investigating whether GLP-1 drugs cause sudden vision loss, and the New Jersey filings number in the dozens. The market those drugs sell into is projected at $92 billion this year.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption74
- Hype gap+14
- Incentives62
- Confidence42
Denmark has paid 27 GLP-1 vision-loss claims at about $56,000 each
More than 90 New Jersey suits and dozens more against Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly turn on a warning the FDA has not written while four other jurisdictions added theirs. Denmark's payouts are the only money that has moved so far.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives65
- Confidence45
Korea's weight-drug depression finding rests on 846 users. The 4.2x ideation number on fewer.
A national survey of 27,741 adults reports 1.9 times the depression among prescribed weight-loss drug users, and 4.2 times the suicidal ideation among those who regained weight. The exposed group is 3% of the sample.
Reality
- Evidence34
- Adoption66
- Hype gap+41
- Incentives44
- Confidence33
Amgen drops AMG 513 for MariTide, and the obesity field narrows to a Phase 3 shortlist
The runners-up behind Lilly and Novo are consolidating around a few late-stage assets. Readouts starting next year, not messaging, will decide who takes share.
Reality
- Evidence32
- Adoption24
- Hype gap+22
- Incentives66
- Confidence36
Why GIP agonists and antagonists both cut weight: two brain regions, not one contradiction
A Cambridge mouse study locates the GIP paradox in anatomy: agonists act through the brainstem, antagonists release a hypothalamic brake. Combination design becomes a targeting question.
Reality
- Evidence52
- Adoption34
- Hype gap+22
- Incentives62
- Confidence50